If internet years were equal to dog years, Mark Chapman has already spent an entire lifetime on the world wide wait. Many human years later, the new tube finally delivers and Mark is only too happy to be your guide to the weird, whacky and wonderful online.

TV ads... love 'em or hate 'em?

September 10 | Mark Chapman

Ads. We all get to see them, every night you sit down in front of the telly and most would agree that they've come a long way from the humble idea of punting a product.

To compete with all the information noise we're subjected to on a daily basis, ads have had to become more sophisticated. They need to entertain us.

These days, entertain us they do. Often the ads on television end up being more memorable that the night's viewing. What do you think?

Thanks once again to the glorious internet, good ads are available online for us to enjoy over and over again. Here's a small selection of great ads that people have uploaded to Youtube: some that you may have seen and other gems and classics from around the world.

Mr T getting angry and selling Snickers - watch video

Subway: the drive-thru window love-handles order - watch video

Bigpond: The Great wall of China. Timeless... - watch video

Yellow Pages: A classic battle of rival Thai Restaurants across the road from each other - watch video

Ka: A car gets medieval on some pigeon in "evil twin" - watch video

John west: This is an oldie but goodie. The classic bearfight sequence - watch video

Use... This ad is said to have been banned in a number of countries, but I'm sure most parents could see the humour in the situation - watch video

A finally, a nod to the "good old days"... Export Cola, an all Aussie ad from the mid-70's - watch video

What are your favourite ads? Do you find ads entertaining or annoying? What ads do you really hate?

Recent Comments

Add a comment

Posted by lucyb from Cooroy

on 10 September, 2007 at 2:05 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

Love the condom ad ... they should show it to teenagers at school as part of sex education! The Great Wall of China is a classic, too.

My most hated are the Rivers ads - they get played a million times during Law & Order and they irk the hell out of me! Removing the voiceover doesn't make them any less annoying, people!

Posted by avatar from Maroochydore

on 11 September, 2007 at 11:10 a.m. ( Suggest removal )

I can remember - a bit like a JFK moment - when we decided ads had reached a point of destroying the quality of television, for us.
It was August 1994, and Hey Hey it's Saturday was on. An interminable ad break took place, returning for a Daryl Somers promtion of a Jennings home. Another interminable ad break ensued, following that.
My partner and I looked at each other, and we said 'enough'. We put our TV in a back room, and six months later, when about to move house, re-discovered it, gathering dust. We took it to the tip.
From time to time, we watch movies on a DVD through our computer, and maybe the odd quality TV series on DVD.
But never will we go back to television.
Apart from no longer being on the 'drug' of TV, we encounter no material cravings either, and we are far better read and aware now.
My partner is a teacher, but she finds no cultural barrier to relating to kids, despite never watching TV. We are both aware, through other media, of what is popular on TV and what the programmes are about, without actually having to endure them.
There is enough advertising everywhere else without having people shout at and talk condescendingly to you in your own living room.