Emotional storytelling takes center stage in many of this year's TED Ads Worth Spreading, which recognizes creative work that inspires other people.
For this year's winners, the non-profit, whose overall mandate is to disseminate "ideas worth spreading," focused on "brand bravery," rewarding brands and agencies that embodied what it called "adthropology" of our culture and mirrored the year's trends.
Winners this year included P&G's "Pick Them Back Up," a heartwarming tale of what motherhood really means, created by Wieden & Kennedy, Portland, Ore., for the Winter Olympics. Another spot that might make you reach for tissues was BBDO's "Basketball" for Guinness, about what friendship really means.
Google's "Homeward Bound," which captured the incredible tale of Saroo Brierley, who was separated from his family in India at a young age at a railway station, then went back and found them 25 years later, using Google Maps, was also honored. Another tearjerker that earned a nod was Dove's charming "Camera Shy," the award-winning commercial that asked the poignant question: "When did you stop thinking you were beautiful?"
On the more lighthearted side, Virgin America's viral safety video featuring fabulous dance moves, was also honored, as was Goodby's "Click, Baby, Click," for Adobe, which showed that B2B advertising could be entertaining, and functional, at the same time.
IBM, which set a Guinness World Record for the world's smallest movie, with a film created using atoms, also was recognized. The film "A Boy and His Atom" was created out of Ogilvy to "explore the limits of film-making", as well as to demonstrate IBM's data storage technology.
Every year, six teams of two -- made up of a TED speaker and a rising star from the ad industry -- nominate work across categories. 25 ad industry vets then act as "advocates" to also nominate work.
This year, the teams included, on the ad side, McCann Melbourne Executive Creative Director John Mescall, m ss ng p eces Co-founder-CEO Ari Kuschnir and AICP President Matt Miller. (See the teams.)
See all of the winners here.
