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My TV receives 120 channels. But I only get around to looking at

the same two or three. I probably miss some advertising brilliance

lurking out there in the cable or bouncing between dishes. The following

campaigns, however, stand out on the channels programmed to me.

My first ad is Gap Khakis, an in-house creation. Start with nonchalantly

stylish kids, frolicking about mindlessly. Add the once eye-popping, now

cliched trick of stop-motion camera pans. Sounds like a formula for

something one could either hate or dismiss without much effort. Frankly,

when I first saw this campaign, I didn’t know whether to hate it or hate

myself for liking it. But the Brian Setzer Orchestra is up for some good

fun and suddenly the TV is swinging for 30 whole seconds.

Don’t believe the title card that suggests ’Khakis swing’ - these spots

are no more about khakis than talking frogs are about beer. Their only

objective is to get you to groove a little, smile a little and maybe

show some goodwill towards the slack-jawed cashier you’ll encounter on

your next visit to the Gap.

The Ikea decorating crew descends upon decidedly unattractive subway

cars, operating rooms and bowling alleys to transform them into a copy

of the most recent spread from Martha Stewart. And, no surprise here,

they succeed. One walks away feeling the ease and good humour with which

it’s all carried out. And the stuff looks pretty good. Ikea has always

known who its customers are. It has created a lot of good advertising

starring the people who buy its products. But sooner, rather than later,

these folks must want to know that the settee they’re about to buy (and

no longer assemble themselves, one presumes) will confirm their

suspicions that Ikea is, indeed, stylish. The ads were created by

Deutsch, New York.

Finally, I come to the Adidas ads by Leagas Delaney, San Francisco.

There are a lot of ads out there looking for something up-lifting to say

about the state of professional sport. Why do these silly men love the

New York Yankees so? Maybe it’s Dave Wells’s perfect game. Maybe it’s

the Yankee’s record-setting 114 victories. Maybe it’s actually all about

the fact that the Yanks are playing and behaving as if they value the

love given by their fans. That’s what makes this work feel right.

Congratulations to Adidas for having the good sense to celebrate fans.

And for having the good luck to sign a team that deserves fans. And for

having some pretty funny fat-guy spots.

Eric McClellan is the former managing partner and executive creative

director of TBWA Chiat/Day, New York.