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What do I know?

There are so many factors that go into getting something produced. So many things that can ever so delicately, or not so delicately, push work from being great to shit. So many different criteria from which to evaluate work. 

So I guess I try to keep it simple, not overcomplicate it, not get too analytical or scientific. I just want to see work that stays with me a little longer. The drink after last call. The joke I just heard and can’t wait to repeat. Just something that makes me proud of what I do. Inspires me to deal with all the things we all deal with all day long. I want to feel jealous and happy.

And I believe ThaiHealth’s (5) "Helpmet" does that. It’s focused and smart. It’s a why-hasn’t-this been-done-before idea. It’s incredibly thorough, well-executed, addresses a real need and is convincing. I’ve never owned a motorcycle and I don’t even own a car, but I want to walk around in one of these things. And if I walk into a pole, you’ll totally know where to find me.

The BBC Asian Network’s (1) "100% British, 100% Asian" does the job perfectly (although I wish it simply started with Raxstar walking down the street versus the slow-motion opening). It’s simple. It’s well done. I can’t overly dissect it, although maybe I should – but I just don’t want to. I like it and I want to watch it again. I like the message and I like how calm yet strong it is. It stands for something and I believe it. 

The idea of one vote cancelling out another has been done with countless metaphors. I just don’t think the see-saw in the Operation Black Vote (4) poster is as strong as the opportunity. It doesn’t feel contemporary. I don’t like that the piece feels acted and seemingly not real. It doesn’t stop me and once I’ve seen it, I’ve seen it. It doesn’t live on past the page.

I want to like the KFC (2) campaign, but it misses slightly. I like the chemistry of the hosts, Charlotte and Callux, and the ambitious idea of seek-out-certain-subject-and-develop-many-films-based-on-subject. I can forgive the forced connection to KFC and the large corporation trying to co-op culture as a way to appeal to an audience, but I wish the video had more substance and therefore was more memorable. If you’re lucky enough to execute an idea like this, the episodes need to be better than the idea, not the other way around. I presume the other ten are. 

I love the Paddy Power (3) "Vive la bantz" film. I love the idea, the way it’s shot, how it develops and builds, the people and humour, and the little touches and details that add to the greater whole. It looks like it was fun to make and therefore it’s fun to watch. It’s something I wish I did, and that makes me happy. 

And when you get past all of the things that go into getting work made, and all the things we measure that work by, happy seems like a nice place to start. 

With the European Union referendum now just one week away, if you’re still undecided as to which team you’re on, this week’s Private View should provide some food for thought.

First up, it’s a poster for Operation Black Vote (4), which shows a South Asian granny perched on a see-saw opposite a jeering white skinhead to make the point that all votes weigh the same. Great posters are reductionist by nature. But, as Remona Aly suggested in The Guardian, is reducing the debate to "drastic stereotypes" simply stooping to the other guy’s level? Showing the political divisions within the black, Asian and minority-ethnic community would have perhaps been more surprising. 

Or it could have been really brave and tried using humour – a tactic that satirists such as Chris Morris know can be used to puncture any zealot’s armour, and which the latest Paddy Power (3) ad uses to great effect. As anyone who has avoided a messy break-up will know, laughing together at how much we’ve come to hate each other has the perverse power to make us feel closer, and somehow this ad makes me feel all warm and fuzzy, even as those tartan berets are rubbing deep-fried chocolate in my face. 

The latest trail from the BBC Asian Network (1), which brings to life its positioning of "100% British, 100% Asian", beautifully showcases the diversity within the British Asian community – but then it has the luxury of a two-minute film, which makes life easier. That said, the casting of Raxstar – who is known for his mix of Punjabi and English lyrics – is inspired, and the world would be a better place if this video was shared as much as it deserves to be. 

If the "leave" team get their way, we could all be needing visas for our summer holidays, which would also be a pain in the ass for the producers of YouTube series such as KFC’s (2) "99p VIP" campaign. It’s hard to judge how many family buckets this is likely to flog without seeing the whole campaign ecosystem, but I like the core idea. Who wouldn’t? Travelling around Europe in search of cool new bands is pretty much everyone’s fantasy, right? I only wish it was a little rougher around the edges in the execution. Callux is an established Tuber who brings with him his own "army" of viewers. But I can’t help feeling they’re going to be disappointed to find that this film – which starts out with all the edge of an X Factor audition tape and ends up looking like a glossy music video – has none of the amateurish and inexplicably watchable charm of Callux’s best "pranked" videos (check out the girlfriend/hair-shaving challenge).

Johnny Bloody Foreigners, eh? Threatening to steal British jobs. Looking at this ThaiHealth (5) Helpmet idea from BBDO Bangkok, I’m starting to wonder if the racist idiots might actually have a point. I’d hire this Thai team any day, if only they could be persuaded to move to Mornington Crescent. The Helpmet is pure genius and proof that the skills that have sustained the communications industry for decades are transferable to our brave new world of commercial creativity. I just hope that the brains behind this idea have got some equity in it.