If there is a theme that ties together the best ads of 2013, it would be: "tearjerker."
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There was something in the air among marketers these last 12 months, and it seems to have produced a bumper crop of dramatic, emotionally moving ads designed to stir your soul.
Just like last year, some of the winners will be familiar. But many are more obscure, and you'll see them for the first time here. Some of the world's best advertising, as usual, does not come from the U.S.
Our surprise No.1 is from a huge American fast-food chain — but the ad probably never ran on TV.
Our ranking is entirely subjective: we looked at originality, entertainment value, and success stories. These were the brands and the campaigns that stood out. Congratulations to everyone who made the list.
(Following the Top 10 list is a compilation of runners up that nearly made the cut but were ultimately rejected.)
10. Cherkashin Meat Factory: "Thanks advertising"
It's easy to make creative ads for fashion and technology brands. Doing the same for a product like processed sandwich meat is a lot harder. That's why we like this melodramatic take on the role of the mid-show snack from Russia. It feels as if something incredibly dramatic is going to happen, and then ...
Agency: Voskhod, Yekaterinburg, Russia.
9. Tullamore Dew: "The Parting Glass"
We said "this ad exploits every Irish cliche and stereotype imaginable— and is still astonishingly beautiful." But there is more, even, than that going on in this spot. It was made by RSA Films, the production company of Ridley Scott — the director behind "Alien,""Prometheus," and dozens of other lushly imagined fictional universes. And it shows.
Agency: Opperman Weiss, New York.
8. Dove: "Real Beauty Sketches"
This was the viral video hit of the year, and it won a Titanium Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions festival. In it, women describe themselves to an unseen FBI sketch artist. Then the women describe each other to the same artist. Guess what? Women describe themselves in ways that are a lot less attractive than how others see them. It's wonderfully manipulative stuff.
Agency: Ogilvy Brazil.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider