There's not much, if anything, that's exciting about the nitty-gritty of fixing up floors. Still, agency Young and Laramore's latest spots for Stanley Steemer dress up a boring category with a bit of melodrama, expanding last year's campaign on the blue-collar heroes of carpet cleaning to celebrate other enthralling services, like re-grouting. Fred Goss, co-creator of ABC's Sons and Daughters, directed the ads, which were scripted but aim for an improvisational tone. That sort of mix may be more successful here, dialed-down, than in that near-forgotten, ill-conceived soap. Among the absurd fantasies illustrated in the commercials: a frat-house rug free of spilled beer and other suspect stains, and a child whose Christmas wish list consists of a polished hardwood floor. The carpet guy's enthusiasm is so intense, in fact, that you might reasonably hesitate before inviting anyone who works for the brand into your house.
Latest Audi Ad Rocks Guitars and Bunnies
What is Audi trying to say in this visually impressive music-video-ish spot? That even though the A1 is its smallest car, it's still packed with all sorts of cool stuff, like great speakers, a state of the art navigation system, powerful air conditioning and … rabbits? Mostly what I got was: "Guitars! Rabbits! Awesome tiny parachutes!" (Are those the same rabbits that Kate Moss squeezed out a few weeks back?) The spot was created by Bartle Bogle Hegarty, and directed by Sam Brown. You may recognize Brown's deeply stylized work from the video for Jay-Z's "On to the Next One." I can practically hear him yelling at the production staff: "Turn on the wind machine, release the birds and pour milk on the speakers! We've got a contract with Audi!" As someone who enjoys music videos more than cars, I applaud the lack of closed-course driving gymnastics in favor of pretty visuals. Learning important information about the product is for websites.