It's that time of year again. Youtube has unveiled its top ten ads of the year in the UK. As usual, it has opted out of revealing the exact figures, but a brief squizz at the videos gives you a rough idea.
What this crop of videos goes to show is that advertising is less about, 'Hey, look at my new product', and more about, 'Hey, check out how cool I am. I'm so cool that I don't even need to show you my product. You're going to want to buy it anyway.'
We've come a long way from Mad Men...
In the top spot is Honda's 'Spark', created by Wieden & Kennedy London. The most viewed version of the video has notched up an impressive 3.8 million global views. The ad itself is short but sweet - just a minute long - and follows a 'spark of inspiration' at a Honda factory, as it passes through a series of adventures, before finally arriving at the manufacturer's latest Civic model.
In second place, Peugeot’s Nonstop to Rudimental video, featuring dance sensation Nonstop, aka Marquese Scott, dancing to the track ‘Feel the Love’ by Rudimental, launched in April.
Reckitt Benckiser’s ad for condom and lubricant maker Durex is in third place. Its ad shows two record players playing Marvin Gaye's 'Let's Get It On' at different speeds and then in sync, with the tagline 'Speeds her up slows him down'. Saucy!
Other ads in the top 10 include O2’s Pay & Go Go Go is here' video, Comparethemarket’s 'Meerkat polka band play the Corrie theme tune', BT Infinity’s 'Take a look around Flat 6' and Google Chrome’s 'Julie Deane'. EE’s remaster of Fenton for 4G, by Poke, is the eighth most-viewed ad of the year, despite only hitting Youtube a few weeks ago.
John Lewis' Christmas ad has failed to make it into the top ten this year. It's saccharine tearjerker nearly took the spot spot last year but viewers haven't warmed to the snowman so much...
