Thus far:

Great:

  • Bud Light’s “Magic Fridge”
  • Disney’s “I’m Going To Disneyland”

Good:

  • Dove’s “Self Esteem Fund”
  • Bud Light’s “Office Scavenger Hunt”
  • Ford’s “Bein’ Green”
  • Sprint’s “Crime Deterrent”
  • United’s “A Child’s Dream”
  • Toyota’s “For Your Future”

Awful:

  • Cadillac’s “Escalade on the Runway”

Seriously, the Cadillac ad is indicative of everything that’s wrong with U.S. automakers: pushing yesterday’s trends to desperately try and pad the bottom line. Too bad that SUVs are yesterday’s news: too big, fuel inefficient, and in the case of the Escalade, butt ugly. And the ugly fasion runway thing? Puh-leeze. The Escalade made the anorexic models look decent – a terrible move on GM’s part.

There’s a nice contrast in appraoch with Ford’s “Bein’ Green.” Ford’s Escape Hybrid is selling incredibly well, demand far outpacing supply. Using a popular cultural icon (Kermit the Frog), a song that people know from their childhood (“Bein’ Green” by Joe Raposo), and a lot of outdoor scenes (pushing the “being green” aspect of trendy modenr living). It worked for me, and it shows that Ford hired the right ad agency. Now, if only they’d make cuts in the upper ranks rather than the factory workers….