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Am I allowed to take a moment to discuss case-study films? Please, I’ll feel better for it. What with Cannes only days away and all. 

They started out with the best of intentions, explaining omnichannel approaches in a concise narrative, to give us the full story of a campaign. But they have mutated and spread and now reached epidemic proportions – now, even a simple film can be carved up and represented to explain how it was filmed, where it ran and how many people liked it. 

For some people, the case-study film has become the idea, often glossing over the inadequacies of the original. We all do it, and we have to stop it. Let’s try to present the ideas intact as best as we can, stripped of buzz and pointless "likes". For the purposes of Private View, however, I have decided to try to see past the format and look at the ideas.

On which note, I’ve chosen to ignore the rather strange case-study-style film for Hostelworld (3) and focus on 50 Cent as he goes around a surprisingly un-hostel-like hostel. While this is nothing that will worry an awards jury, it adheres to some sound basic rules of good content. First, jump on the influencer power of a celebrity and use them in a relevant way. Second, if the product is good, show the product.

Vita Coco (4). This online film shows a guy singing karaoke in a sweaty Thai beach bar. The twist? The lyrics are written as he sings them, as most of us sing karaoke – that is, without a bloody clue what the words are supposed to be. I was hoping for some witty rewriting but, no, it’s just nonsense. I was looking for more from this – it feels lazy.

Braun (1) shows us different beard art. Using some stop-frame, the film shows off different styling in a fun way. There isn’t much more to add other than that I think this falls into the content trap. One that we are all wrestling with. Is "OK" OK? Is "good" good enough? Will people watch it? Maybe. Could it have been better? Definitely.

For me, the world of content demands us to be funnier, smarter, more outrageous and more thoughtful than anything anyone else could do. Maybe if it isn’t those things, we shouldn’t do it.

Volkswagen (2) is a TV ad. A nice little observation – one that, as the mother of a 13-year-old boy, I am all too familiar with. Kids don’t want to be humiliated by their uncool parents, particularly not at the school gates. There is one dad who moves to a cooler beat… gangsta dad in his VW. But even that doesn’t quite cut it as he goes for the goodbye handshake, only to be dissed by his daughter.

The executional vehicle (not the actual vehicle) is a bit done in this category. See the brilliant Toyota "Swagger wagon" done in the US a couple of years back. That said, this is still a nicely told commercial.

Boots (5). I smell a change of direction, a "social experiment". Well-meaning with a dose of TLC, this work attempts to give Boots its place in the community. Unfortunately, it misses the attitude and spirit of a British summer – an attitude that previous Boots campaigns have got so right. Bring back the girls!

Our car is cool. Our shaver is accurate. Our hostel has everything. Our drink quenches thirst. Our shops understand people.

This week’s messages aren’t new, unique or differentiating. So whether they’ll resonate depends not on what they’re saying but how they say it or who’s doing the saying.

Take Volkswagen (2). It is fortunate enough to have a very distinctive voice, so even when it says what all the other car manufacturers are saying, it somehow comes out Volkswageny. 

In its latest ad, we see kids embarrassed by their "soooo embarrassing" parents. The ad goes all rap video as we see the VW groove down the road, a kid sitting proudly next to her dad. The dad, believing his own PR, starts acting a bit too cool, forcing the kid to join the Embarrassed By Dads gang. As a parent, you can’t help recognise the dynamic. It’s not classic VW but it’s much better than most of the car ads. It’s the benefit of filtering your messages through that knowing and self-deprecating tone of voice that has glued VW ads together for the past 60 years. At its next financial audit, I hope "tone of voice" sits alongside machinery, factories and materials. It has to be one of its most valuable assets.

Boots (5) also benefits from heritage – more than 100 years of trust. In its ad, we see a mobile Boots set up its wares in a small local community. The voiceover asks us whether we knew that: a) Lots of teenagers get spots; b) New mums wish they didn’t worry so much; c) Lots of people go on holiday without being properly prepared; d) Women find summer the best time to try a new look; and e) Lots of children have undiagnosed eye problems.

If you want people to believe that you are experts in what makes them tick, you’d be better off telling them things they don’t know. 

Vita Coco (4) has little history or tone of voice to draw on. Its ad features a guy singing karaoke – subtitles appear to reveal that what he is singing makes no sense. The film feels cool in a Southern Comfort belly-guy-on-beach kind of way, but it could be for any drink. A shame, as Vita Coco is one of the more distinctive ways to quench your thirst.

"Product demo" feels like a term from the Mad Men era, but it’s often easier to demonstrate what a product does than describe it. Braun (1) proves just how accurate its shaver is by creating all kinds of intricate hair sculptures on various heads and faces. It isn’t an "amazing ad" but it makes me think its shaver is good. If only I had some hair to shave.

I’d never heard of Hostelworld (3) – I’m probably not its demographic. In its ad, the recently devalued 50 Cent (5 Cent?) walks us around his new crib. As you would expect, it has everything a young rapper about town would need: pool, bar, gym, every luxury imaginable. Except it’s a hostel. It’s a guided tour of a hostel but, because it’s so well-written, it doesn’t feel like a long list of product points.

At a time when many brands are obsessed with convincing us of their higher purpose, you can’t help loving those that don’t take themselves too seriously. Be it hostels or rappers.