Since companies have been trying to get people to buy more of their products, they have amped up their advertising by several thousand dollars. We all know about the product placement in movies especially when it gets as audacious as having an entire Chevrolet commercial in the middle of The Barbie Movie. However, I feel we don’t talk enough about the commercials that are quite literally fitting an entire short film just advertise companies like Walmart.
So here are my top ten short films/trailers that are just ads.
In the commercial we get a woman talking overhead about how important it is to treat nature and the people around you well so that everyone can have something to eat now and in the future.
It is animated beautifully to show this utopian solarpunk society that has a perfect balance between nature and technology.
It highlights this meal all these characters are having together with plentiful food, the farm labor that is aided by small robots, and the female lead and her daughter enjoying simple moments together. Of course, at the center of it all and in every frame possible there is a Chobani product.
The now iconic commercial is generalizing all the black lives matter protests happening at the time by showing generalized peace signs and people happily marching towards police before Kendal Jenner takes off a blonde wig and gives a soda to a cop who drinks it, and everyone cheers
It was pulled for obvious reasons but in the full add its almost advertising how different people can come together for singular cause. Its almost actually good until Pepsi and Kendal Jenner are involved.
This was actually a very good nostalgic ad that had several call backs to the original film while showing the grown-up versions of all the original cast.
Could this easily be an actual sequel? Yes, because it literally sets up a whole new cast of characters that still fit in perfectly with the old ones. But its literally a Black Friday ad
This commercial is completely unhinged. I have no idea what I’m watching but that’s what makes it so good.
A man is literally playing tennis on a whale where the tennis balls are continuously coming from the whale’s blowhole, and it has sunglasses on.
He’s talking absolute nonsense about having no physical boundaries all to promote Old Spice.
We get to see a very real humanity within women as the add progresses to show a woman being edited to look nothing like herself.
It is highlighting the way that beauty standards are distorted to make woman feel worse all-in service of making Dove look better
It is emphasizing all the good masculine fantasies every man should be perusing. Being interesting, powerful, wordly, and well-liked by all.
And it ends that by showing this man drink Dos Equis as if that means anything.
This one shows the way everyday hardworking people are extremely nervous to get a good job when the laptop with the main presentation to the big company is stolen.
It is literally a short film to make all apple products and apple itself look better complete with well-rounded characters, plot, and stakes.
With a beautiful level of animation and special effects this ad shows us how different and very famous artworks are coming to life to give a young artist inspiration.
Everything they do, including jumping out of their own paintings, is of course in service of giving the young artist a coke.
I think this ad works the hardest to try and tell you it's not an ad because for so much of it it's just people talking about their super opposing views and building things together. It almost really is trying to bring people to see each other in a different light.
Then they reveal all the horrible things one of them admitted to behind the scenes and ask them to have a Heineken beer together to work it out
A voice narrates the very personal and physically demanding struggles of farming saying that god himself made farmers for the things no one else would be strong enough to do. It is a very moving slide show that idealizes farm life and how tough you have to be.
And there in every other picture and at the very end are ram trucks.
I must say, I didn't expect this topic and I'm glad as it caught me off guard in a good way because I love these kinds of commercials. They're kind of like the commercials we used to look forward to seeing during the Superbowl commercials. I will forever enjoy the commercial where they reference the Boston Tea Party.
What you wrote is very informational, I know that these ads are always around. Some just may be more noticeable than others. And some of these ads may or may not be helpful in any way.
This is such a great topic to explore. I think that these companies knew that they would build a personal and emotional connection when making these short film advertisements.
Wow this takes a new approach to those ads. It does seem kind of odd how they are able to flip the script. Love it!
Dodge's God Made a Farmer ad/commercial was something else. I remember using that in several classes to talk about rhetoric, visual rhetoric, etc. I was glad to see it on this list (which is great, btw)!