2009 British Television Advertising Awards

saw the BTAAs last night. interesting set of commercials this year.

apparently there wasn't a ton of advertising dollars spent and UK gov spent about 35% of the total so there were tons of PSAs this year. Also a lot of commercials for the BBC and I learned that their tv shows have agencies cut their trailers and plan the campaigns.

Here are my favs from the evening:

Cycle Safety - Whodunnit

it may not be the best PSA ever to come out of England but it's a really simple idea to show how easy it is to miss cyclists on the road

VW Golf - Enjoy the Everyday



VW had a lot of good commercials this year but this was my favorite. The soundtrack from sounds in and around the car is a nice idea but even better is showing how the car as part of your life.

Virgin Atlantic - 25 years



personally my fav as I may have called out here before. it is inspiring, it is funny, it has the product benefits, and it asks for the sale. not much else you could ask for.


and here is the best commercial of the year as voted by the BTAA. The Walker printed the wrong info in their program
Hovis - Go on Lad


It is a strong commercial and it seems to tap into the uncertainty of the last year, but that may be why I didn't think it was the best. we have been reminded so much of the trouble in the economy that I want to be inspired and uplifted by advertising. it's a tough line to balance though because you don't want to appear out of touch with society either.

I will be very curious to see the themes and tones that show up next year