Our Favorite Advertising Campaigns Part 1

As part of our month-long look at branding and advertising, each Thursday through April we’ll be bringing you some of our favorite commercials and advertising campaigns. It’s not just about which ads were funny, or which commercials were memorable; it’s about the creative process that happened behind each of them. Without further ado, here’s our first week’s take on our favorite advertising campaigns.

So Commercial: Our Favorite Advertising Campaigns, Part 1

Ann Mazzaferro, Writer and Online Community Manager

Beef: It’s What’s for Dinner

I didn’t know it was possible for beef to be given an epic feel, but that’s exactly what happened when the National Beef Council released its “Beef: It’s What’s for Dinner” advertising campaign. The thirty-second commercial, first released in 1992, showed beef in a variety of preparations, but instead of a cheesy, pseudo-pop soundtrack, the soundtrack was the “Hoe-Down” from “Rodeo,” legendary American composer (and Blackwing user) Aaron Copland’s ballet of the American West. The music made serving beef seem patriotic, epic, exciting, and down-right American. It’s not easy to get people that excited about ground beef, but the juxtaposition of the music with the message made for one of the most memorable advertising campaigns of all time, not to mention an entire generation of people who call “Rodeo” the “Beef: It’s What’s for Dinner” music.

Alexander Poirier, Writer

Volkswagen: The Force

I love Star Wars more than any grown man should, and this commercial featured one of the many things that makes Star Wars great: music conducted by John Williams. “The Imperial March” is perhaps Williams’ most famous piece of music; it is epic and powerful, with an overtone of brass that conveys both Vader’s strength in the force and the Empire’s dominance over the galaxy. In Volkswagen’s commercial, however, “The March” is used to show the frustration of a child who wishes the force was real (something I know I can relate to), before crescendoing to an epic conclusion as the bewildered child uses the force to start his parents’ car (with the help of the vehicle’s key fob). Much like Star Wars, I could watch this commercial over and over again.

Andy @ Woodclinched says:

04/05/2012 at 4:32 PM

I think my favorite was Apple’s PC vs. Mac commercials. It encapsulated the same smug feeling about it that I felt. (:

Alexander Poirier says:
04/05/2012 at 4:44 PM

Apple has always put out excellent commercials, and Justin Long and John Hodgman perfectly personified the Mac and Windows platforms (plus they were hilarious). We’re going to be doing this every week all month Andy, so stop back by to see if any of your other favorites make an appearance!