bubble boy.

Volkswagen "Bubble Boy" Ad, 2002.

It's a rare moment when a commercial ad transcends the world of commercial advertising to touch truth, but if there's a company out there with the ingenuity to pull it off, it's Volkswagen. VW's "Bubble Boy" ad emerged in 2002 as a teaser for the then-new Beetle. Boasting a cinematic edge highlighted by jump-cuts and split screens and a soundtrack celebrating Electric Light Orchestra's finest tune, the ad packs the aesthetic impact of an entire film into a single minute. The ad depicts multiple days in the life of a young office employee trapped in an existence defined by endless routine. As we follow him through the countless cubicles, coffee cups, and clerical chores of office life, we feel his resignation to a life of meaningless repetition.

And then he sees something that changes everything. A glimpse of the very product they are advertising: the new Volkswagen Beetle. For him, it represents fresh opportunity. It breaks his mundane regimen of walking down the nondescript corridor from point A to point B. It gives him a renewed sense of hope and meaning in life.

Of course, it is just a car, but that is the whole point of advertising. And what makes this ad transcendent is that you don't even have to believe that this car will save him from his routine life to be affected by it. Hope is universal, and it is found in any array of experiences, not least a modest car commercial.

french dictionary.

Levi's "French Dictionary" Ad, 2002.

This commercial is brilliant for so many reasons. Gael García Bernal. Levi's Jeans. Gael García Bernal wearing Levi's Jeans. Music by Air. Gael García Bernal wearing Levi's dangerously low jeans.

Not to mention the commercial's just damn brilliant, in that clever, effortlessly cool way that only Levi's ads (and jeans) seem to manage.

french revolutionary.

Chemical Brothers: "Star Guitar" - Watch more Music Videos at Vodpod.

Michel Gondry is a supergod of the video world. Despite having created amazing full-length features, he remains legendary as the director of your favorite commercials and music videos and master of inventive visuals that blow your mind every single time. His 2001 video for The Chemical Brothers' "Star Guitar" features a simple continuous shot of a view out a moving train, except every beat, crescendo, musical flourish of the song is synchronized to the images passing by. Gondry creates a visual orchestration, so you're literally seeing the music while you hear it. Brilliant concept (similarly used in his 1997 video for Daft Punk's "Around the World") and a complete mindfuck for proper sensory perception.