TED’s Ads Worth Spreading 2013 Winners

Today’s guest blog post comes from Ronda Carnegie, Head of Global Partnerships from TED.

For the third year, TED and YouTube teamed up on Ads Worth Spreading, an initiative to recognize ads that inspire, educate and engage. Today at the TED2013 conference in Long Beach, Calif., this year’s ten winners were announced.

Ads were nominated in six categories: Talk, Social Good, Cultural Compass, Creative Wonder, Brand Bravery, and Education. Six nomination teams made up of one TED speaker and one rising thinker in advertising searched for ads in each category, while 25 leading figures in the ad industry searched for ads across categories.

Each of these ten ads go beyond the creative brief to spark imagination and create moments of emotional connection with audiences. The winning work will be showcased at TED2013 as well as on TED.com and you can watch them all here on YouTube. Combined, they have been viewed more than 100 million times on YouTube.

 

TED 2013 Ads Worth Spreading:

  1. Expedia - “Find Yours”
  2. Coke - “Security Cameras”
  3. Melbourne Metro Rail - “Dumb Ways to Die”
  4. Dell - “Meet Annie: The Girl Who Could Fly”
  5. TNT - “Your Daily Dose of Drama”
  6. Rainforest Alliance - “Follow the Frog”
  7. Channel 4 (UK) - “Meet the Superhumans”
  8. GlaxoSmithKline - “The Crowd”
  9. Dodge - “The Farmer”
  10. The Guardian - “Three Little Pigs”

Guest to the YouTube Blog Ronda Carnegie, Head of Global Partnerships from TED, recently watched “Young-Ha Kim: Be an artist, right now!”

TED’s 10 Ads Worth Spreading winners announced today

Today’s guest blog post comes from Ronda Carnegie, Head of Global Partnerships at TED.

Last October, we at TED set out to recognize the best in advertising with a program called Ads Worth Spreading. We wanted to find and honor clever, engaging ads that clearly communicated a company’s ideas, sparked thoughtful conversation about advertising, and advocated for audiences, who want to be entertained, not interrupted. Agencies and industry luminaries were invited to submit nominations via YouTube.

The winners of the second Ads Worth Spreading initiative were announced moments ago at the TED Conference in Long Beach, CA. This year’s 10 winners were carefully curated to shine a spotlight on ads that break the mold through longer-form, idea-based storytelling; were driven by ideas; value human attention and intelligence, and take the time to tell a thought-provoking story.

Entries ranged from 30-second spots to five-minute mini-documentaries, as well as several custom-made TED Talk-like pieces humanizing companies and causes. The winning work will be showcased at TED2012 as well as on TED.com and you can watch them all here on YouTube. Enjoy the full list of winners below!

The 2011/12 Ads Worth Spreading are:               

Chipotle: Back to the Start; Company: Chipotle; Agency: Creative Artists Agency
As he regrets the mass production and artificial methods of his industrial animal factory, a determined farmer opts to return to sustainable farming methods for the future and betterment of society.

Citizen Engagement: The Return of Ben Ali; Brand: Engagement Citoyen; Agency: Memac Ogilvy Tunisia
Although former Dictator of Tunisia President Ben Ali was ousted amidst the chaos of the Tunisian Revolution, many quickly lost interest in politics. In order to galvanize the Tunisian people out of hibernation, La Goulette shocked residents by warning the return of tyranny. 88% turned up for the October 23rd vote.

NTT Docomo Mobile Phone: Xylophone; Brand: NTT Docomo, Inc.; Agency: Drill Inc.
Organic and imaginative, NTT Docomo captures the essence of their new mobile phone to redefine nature and technology.
                                                                                       
Microsoft/Xbox: Kinect Effect; Brand: Microsoft / Xbox; Agency: Twofifteenmccann
Pushing the realm of imagination and technology, the Kinect takes a leap into the future of education, gaming and interaction

Sharpie: Start with Sharpie; Brand: Sharpie; Agency: Draftfbc - Chicago  
Cheeming Boey, builds a career around drawing on cups with Sharpies. His inspirational story is one of creativity and drive, challenging those who tried to taint his dream.

Mazda: Defy Convention; Brand: Mazda; Agency: Team Cosmos/JWT Germany/Team Mazda Europe     This moving advertisement shows how their heritage helps Mazda to see things differently and overcome adversity.

L'Oreal Paris: Aimee Mullins; Brand: L'Oreal Paris; Agency: R/GA and McCann Erickson
L’Oreal’s new beauty ambassador knows a lot about challenging notions of perceived beauty and achievement, as the wearer of double prosthetic legs.

Rethink Breast Cancer: Your Man Reminder; Brand: Rethink Breast Cancer; Agency: john st.
A tongue-in-cheek assertion that women are more likely to watch a video if it features a ‘hot guy’ underpins the serious message of this video.

Prudential Day One: Linda;  Brand: Prudential; Agency: Droga5  
Linda Gutherie reveals the thought process and life changes behind retirement as she shares her first day of retirement.

Canal +: The Bear; Brand: Canal+; Agency: BETC Euro RSCG
A bear skin rug that becomes a movie director? Just watch it ;-)

Guest to the YouTube Blog Ronda Carnegie, Head of Global Partnerships at TED, recently watched “Back to the Start”.

What makes an ad worth spreading? TED to recognize 10 prime examples

Today we bring you a guest post from Ronda Carnegie, Head of Global Partnerships at TED, a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Carnegie explains how TED and YouTube are teaming up for the second year to present a challenge called 'Ads Worth Spreading.'

Last year, TED kicked off a challenge to the advertising industry called Ads Worth Spreading, our global search for innovation, ingenuity and intelligence in advertising. The winners can be seen on the front page of Show & Tell, YouTube’s gallery of clever and effective creative marketing.

This year, we are delighted to announce that we’re now accepting entries to TED’s Ads Worth Spreading initiative through a channel on YouTube. The YouTube channel will help promote and showcase submissions, as well as spark conversation. Even if you’re not an advertiser, you can visit the channel and comment on your favorite campaigns. Which ads are thought-provoking, funny, honest, warm, informative or creatively brilliant? We want your feedback, and the channel is our medium for hearing your voice.

One of the most common questions we’re asked about Ads Worth Spreading is: “Why? Why does TED support an initiative around advertising?” TED’s Curator Chris Anderson explains it this way -- “TED’s mission is ‘ideas worth spreading.’ The dream behind this initiative is to find companies that want to communicate ideas to their consumers in the same way that TED wants to communicate with its audience. What makes ideas powerful is that they have a life of their own; an idea can reset someone’s worldview and even begin a domino effect as they pass it on to friends.”

TED will curate a final selection of ten campaigns from 2011. The results will be announced at the TED2012 conference in Long Beach, Calif. in March, and showcased on TED.com and YouTube.

If you’re an agency, brand, producer or individual who’s created an ad worth spreading this year, now is your chance to have your work recognized. Visit the Ads Worth Spreading channel and upload or add your YouTube video to the channel before December 31, 2011.

We’re looking forward to finding 10 new winners to celebrate.

Ronda Carnegie, Head of Global Partnerships at TED, recently watched "Matt Cutts: Try something new for 30 days."