Heineken ‘Water in Majorca’ (1985)
This 1985 Heineken ad, created by Lowe Howard-Spink, is a twist on the famous ‘My Fair Lady’ scene in which Eliza Doolittle tries again and again to enunciate “The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain”.
The ad was was ranked at number 9 in Campaign’s 2008 "Top 10 Funniest TV Ads of All Time” and number 29 in Channel 4's "100 Greatest TV Ads" in 2000.
Sir John Hegarty’s said of the ad: “I genuinely think that, 500 years from now, anthropologists wishing to understand the British in the latter part of the 20th century will just play this commercial. Our obsession with class, language and self-deprecating humour are all supremely expressed. And all in 60 seconds.”
Honda ‘Cog’ (2003)
The 2003 Honda Cog campaign was devised by Wieden & Kennedy London, by executive creative directors Tony Davidson and Kim Papworth. Filming was directed by Antoine Bardou-Jacquet at Partizan Midi Minuit, on a budget of £1 million and over a 7-month production.
The final cut of "Cog" contains two continuous sixty-second shots taken from a technocrane, stitched together in post-production. Four days of filming were required to get these two shots, two days for each minute-long section. It required little post-production work as computer-generated imagery was kept to the absolute minimum.
The full version of the ad was broadcast only a handful of times, but it is regarded as one of the most ground-breaking commercials of the 2000s, and received more awards than any commercial in history.
The Sunday Times ‘Icons’ (2014)
The Sunday Times and Grey London wanted to bring to life some of the most iconic moments in art, music and film, by filming one continuous take without any digital interference. Creative director, Nils Leonard, said that the key to the success of the ad was in reconstructing these moments meticulously.
The ad was filmed after one day of prelighting and rehearsal. A particularly tricky camera angle at the moment of the Creation of Adam, was overcome when the camera man was able to tilt the camera to a 45 degree angle manually.
It won the Young Director Award for Best Broadcast Commercial, a D&AD Silver for Best Art Direction and four Creative Circle Golds for Best Direction, Best Cinematography, Best production Design and Best use of Music.
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