Ads That Made Creatives Jealous

There was a lot of incredible work by brands this year. So, just like last year, Adweek asked agencies to weigh in on which genius campaigns they wish they'd thought of first. At the top of the list, of course, was Ryan Reynolds' Aviation Gin and its light-speed clap back to the infamous Peloton ad. But a lot of other ads also turned competitors green in the face, like Nike's Dream Crazier spot, narrated by Serena Williams, the dark humor of Halo Top's Ice Cream for Adults campaign and the brutal realities of reporting on ISIS communicated through The New York Times' "The Truth Is Worth It" spots. Agencies also gave shout outs to DTC shaving brand Billie's ad that was kicked off Facebook for showing body hair, the Super Bowl spot in which a Game of Thrones dragon incinerated the Bud Knight and Diesel's Be a Follower campaign that poked fun at influencers.

Read more: Also, Spotify's end of year OOH and a tribute to singing in the car.

When Pantone announced its 2020 color of the year earlier this month, a lot of folks responded with a question mark. Classic blue? Isn't that kind of boring for a year that's certain to be pretty dang wild? But that's exactly why it was chosen, explains Lippincott's Brendán Murphy in an opinion piece. He points to brands like Ford, IBM, Blue Cross Blue Shield and AT&T who use the color to signal "institutional trust and safe, measured progress"—something that a lot of the world is pining for in the midst of widespread sociopolitical uncertainty.

Read more: Blue's also the world's favorite color, Murphy writes, and suggests a calming stability.

There are several shows that you may have missed during the year this year—a whole lot fan favorites didn't release a single new episode. Which means they can't make the end of year "best of" lists this time around, by default. So if you were wondering why you didn't see Atlanta ranked on 10 Best TV Shows of 2019, it's nothing against your favorite show—it's just that it was MIA all year. Which, to be honest, is understandable. What a year, amirite? Away from the glossy eyes of viewers of the world this year, in addition to Atlanta, were shows like American Crime Story, Better Call Saul, Insecure and Westworld.

Read more: Homecoming and the Haunting of Hill House were also absent.

Looking back on the social media storm around Zola's ad on Hallmark now that the dust has settled, there are some takeaways, according to Brock University marketing professor Joachim Scholz, who wrote about the ad in an opinion piece for Adweek. The spot featured a lesbian couple who, apparently did not use Zola to plan their wedding (though it looks lovely). And while the vows they exchange have little to do with the ceremony itself, they commit to the truth that it all would've been easier had they just used Zola. But all that aside, the fact that they were a same-sex couple was enough to elicit backlash from a conservative group, so Hallmark pulled the ad before hastily agreeing to reinstate it in response to even more backlash. By that point, the network made everybody mad.

Hallmark's initial response may have worked in an earlier media landscape, writes Scholz. But flip-flopping like it did not only looks really bad on social media, but it ends in a missed opportunity for brand building. Much better to establish your values ahead of time and stick to your guns when the going gets rough.

Read more: Hallmark was trapped in the middle of a cultural tug of war.

Best of the Rest: Today's Top News and Insights

We're often told stories about athletes that highlight how far they've come—framing the stories in a familiar, American Dream-style, rags-to-riches narrative. But why stop there? In this latest Nike ad, LeBron James questions why we keep letting the conditions that create "humble beginnings" continue to exist.

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Yvonne Chavez, marketing director, Mering

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