Emma de la Fosse, chief creative officer, Digitas
Did you watch the Oscars? 'Course you did. Probably on the internet – the bit where Will Smith physically assaulted presenter Chris Rock on stage. If it hadn't been for that incident, the 94th Academy Awards might have passed you by. Viewing figures, at 16.6 million, were the second smallest of all time. Are the Oscars losing relevance? In 1998 viewing figures topped 48.3 million, and perhaps it is no coincidence that the films dominating the night had high awareness levels: Titanic, Pulp Fiction, Forrest Gump...
This year, CODA, the big winner, had an awareness and viewership level of just 14% and 4%, respectively. I sometimes feel advertising is going the same way. I can only claim to have seen one of this week's offerings as a "punter" (and I watch a lot of terrestrial and streamed telly). Are there any "Best Picture" winners among them?
Vestiaire would miss out on the Best Animated Feature category but might be nominated for Best Costume Design. However, I'm surprised such a compelling subject matter – sustainable fashion – didn't give rise to a more compelling story. That's essential when your ad runs to one minute, 27 seconds.
1Password has bagged itself a big Hollywood name in Ryan Reynolds. He plays himself very well, and it's refreshing to see something funny on screen. Reynolds deftly lists, without labouring, all the reasons you should use 1Password (happy client), so you are entertained rather than sold to. A nod for the Best Actor award, and perhaps Mullins should be considered for Best Supporting actor for managing to hold it together. Just.
Some big brains in the behavioural science dept have clearly had a guiding hand in the next film for the Mayor of London "Have a word with yourself". It's a smart move to tackle the issue of sexual abuse obliquely via mates rather than directly towards an abuser who won't recognise or admit to their own behaviour. The way sexual harassment is portrayed in this ad is very true to life, and I applaud the writers for the power of the writing. I have been in similar situations, and it all rings horribly true. The only point at which I felt the script lost contact with plausibility was the OTT reaction of the "mate" when he finally intervenes. A Best Screenplay nomination and perhaps a Best Editing nomination, too.
Apple's "Escape from the office" at eight minutes and 27 seconds is adland's equivalent of The Irishman. Unless you are starting your own business, I'm not sure who will watch it till the end. I'm glad I watched it until the end, though, because that's the best bit. The idea behind the credits – all the Apple features are credited with a role – was lovely. So, a nomination for the supporting crew.
If Diet Coke were a studio, it would have the biggest budgets and access to the best talent. Yet, despite that, it has managed to produce a flop. When your idea is as thin as "woman on her way home sips drink and is transported into a fantasy land", you'd better be aiming to win an Oscar in Production Design, Visual Effects and Cinematography. This misses by a mile. Let's move on.
There are more deaths in the construction industry than in any other sector, but I still don't think that's a good reason to set the Screwfix film to Mozart's Requiem. That aside, the idea of "everyday life" accompanied by a stirring classical score is a bit thin, so, like Diet Coke, it'd better look or sound amazing. This is OK. Not a flop but not a winner either.
So, that's me done, ladies and gentlemen. I hope you've enjoyed the show and if not, please don't smack your presenter.
Genevieve Grandsen and Selma Ahmed, creative directors, Adam & Eve/DDB
Given all that’s going on in the world right now. it feels a bit odd to be writing about ads, but maybe it’s no bad thing to have a little distraction. So here goes.
Let’s kick this off with Apple. Loved part one – and the follow-up is no let-down. It merges the world of entertainment and advertising seamlessly (the thing we all try to do...) and it also feels like a super creative answer to what we can only imagine to be a very dull brief.
We did ask ourselves, who has 10 minutes to watch this? But then we saw it has more than 21 million views on YouTube and realised, many, many people.
Vestiaire Collective’s "Long live fashion". Ok, the puppets are a vibe. Love the aesthetic. Also, we have seen the print ads knocking about and we’re not mad at it. But, it seems the puppets' acting trumps that by the humans, which we think lets it down. Safe to say, we’re not bowled over by it (unlike the fainting extra).
As die-hard Diet Coke fans, we really wanted to love "Love what you love" – but sadly love did not strike and the ad didn't quite hit the spot for us.
The Mayor of London’s campaign for VAWG is important work. Lots more needs to be done but this feels like a great start. Brilliant casting and genuine performances. It will be interesting to see how this resonates with the people it’s meant to – and we hope it genuinely makes an impact.
Now for a little construction fix (couldn’t help ourselves). We were pleasantly surprised by Screwfix's "The choice of champions". Well shot, nice art direction and stands out from other brand work in the category. Think it’s fair to say that it leans heavily (like, very heavily) on the track but there’s nothing wrong with that in our eyes. We’ve all been there.
1Password features Ryan Reynolds doing what Ryan Reynolds does best... being Ryan Reynolds. We can only imagine how boring we would have found this brief when it came in (soz), so with that in mind, we think they’ve done a great job. It’s clear, funny and memorable.
We’re looking forward to the night-time skincare routine sequel... as that is something we take very seriously.
Thanks for having us X