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Our favourite ads this week: 

Four really great ads feature this week. The Emmys are of course the US television industry's equivalent of the Oscars, and have for several years featured an award for best TV commercial. At last weekend's 59th Emmys gala evening, BBDO's run as the regular winner of that trophy was halted by Ogilvy & Mather, who collected the gong for this charming American Express spot featuring (and no doubt largely conceived by) comedian Ellen De Generes. A worthy recipient, indeed.

How about Fight For Kisses, an extraordinary French campaign for Wilkinson Sword, courtesy of JWT Paris? It features an edgy sort of concept which it would be hard to imagine playing well in the US (where Wilkinson Sword is marketed as Schick) but goes down a storm with European audiences.

Guinness is well-known for its strong creative work. This US ad, At Last, from BBDO New York, takes quite a different approach from the style we're generally used to from the iconic stout, like a tongue-in-cheek (or tongue-on-face?) spin on the old Levi's ads. Don't get misled by the build-up; the ad comes with an excellent final laugh.

Finally, Dog Race, a nicely judged spot, also by BBDO, for eBay, which perfectly sums up the competitive spirit which drives most devotees of online auctions. There are three ads in all - see also Hail Mary and Fox Hunt

In the news this past week: Advertisers & Media

In the UK, business headlines have been dominated for several days by Newcastle-based mortgage bank Northern Rock. A BBC News report that the business had applied to the Bank of England for financial assistance because of the current sub-prime credit crisis led to near-panic among customers, many of whom rushed to withdraw their savings, despite assurances of the society's solvency. Instead, it was this mass withdrawal of £2bn of deposits which pushed Northern Rock to the brink of collapse, forcing the government to issue an unprecedented guarantee that all savings would be safe. Despite that, Northern Rock's share price has plunged, from a high of £12 in February, to around £2.50 by close of play yesterday. The troubled bank is expected to become a takeover target, although talks with Lloyds TSB earlier this week failed over terms.

Wal-Mart unveiled its new slogan this week. Instead of long-established motto "Everyday Low Prices" the company has adopted a new mantra of "Save Money. Live Better." Adding impetus to the concept, Wal-Mart has published the results of a survey by research agency Global Insight which claims that the company's price-cutting drive delivered savings last year equivalent to $2,500 for every American household. Separately this week, it was reported that Subway had overtaken McDonald's as the main fast-food supplier within Wal-Mart stores. Although it only started opening outlets within Wal-Mart three years ago, Subway now has a presence in more than 1,400 US stores. McDonalds has outlets in just over 1,020.

Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group has more or less completed his withdrawal from retailing, following a deal to sell its 125-strong Virgin Megastore chain in the UK and Ireland to its management team, headed by managing director Simon Douglas. Virgin Megastores UK will rebrand as Zavvi later this year. Virgin's 11 remaining stores in North America were sold to property developer Related Companies last month.

Nintendo has return to pole position in the games console market for the first time in 17 years, as a result of the astonishing success of its Wii device, which has now overtaken other "next generation" rivals. According to research data to the end of July 2007 (and to August in Japan), the Wii has so far sold a combined total of 9m units, overtaking the Xbox 360 - which has been on the market a year longer - with 8.9m units. Sony's PS3 languishes in third place with 3.7m units.

Cadbury Schweppes was reported to have turned down two private equity offers for its US beverages business, which has been up for sale since earlier this year. Apparently both offers, rumoured to have been around the $13bn level, came with a number of unappealing terms and conditions, such as Cadbury being required to assist with financing the sale. Instead, there is now speculation that the division, which markets Dr Pepper, 7 Up and Snapple in the US, will be spun off in an IPO. Such a move could achieve a much higher price for Cadbury, although it would also be a slower and more complex process.

Mobile phone giant T-Mobile is to boost its presence in the US, where it is the smallest of the four national operators, by bolting on the customers of regional wireless service SunCom. T-Mobile has agreed to acquire the smaller company, which covers the US South East, for around $2.4bn in cash and debt. Earlier this year, the German group agreed a deal to strengthen its Dutch subsidiary by acquiring the local subsidiary of rival Orange, although that deal is still subject to approval by Orange's works council. In Germany, T-Mobile secured the slot as the exclusive distribution partner for Apple's iPhone; O2 has the iPhone for the UK; and Orange is expected to be confirmed as the local partner for France.

In the news this past week: Agencies

Is Google considering a move into the advertising industry? The search giant has already planted a toe in numerous other sectors, not least media planning and buying via the proposed acquisition of DoubleClick. This week it announced it had hired one of the two presidents of Ogilvy & Mather New York to become a new inhouse unit, Google Creative Labs. Andy Berndt's brief will be to develop Google's own marketing, and to find more creative ways to work with other agencies. A Google spokesperson reassured nervous inhabitants of Madison Avenue that the company is not itself "moving into the ad agency business" and wouldn't work with marketers directly. However, Berndt is a former creative director, and was later the account director on O&M's IBM account before being appointed co-president of the New York office.

Domino's Pizza placed its creative advertising account with Crispin Porter & Bogusky. That agency already handles Burger King, a rival fast-feeder which itself has several close connections to Domino's. Investment company Bain Capital is a leading shareholder of both companies, and Domino's chairman-CEO David Brandon sits on Burger King's board. Also in the US, Royal Caribbean cruises called a review of its creative and media accounts, handled by Arnold and MPG respectively; Jenny Craig weight loss centers is calling a review out of JWT. LG Electronics, which is in the middle of a global review, placed creative for its digital displays with interactive shop Agency.com. The winners for LG's mobile and appliances accounts have yet to be decided. For all other appointments, subscribers can access the full Adbrands Account Assignments database here. 

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Simon Tesler
Publisher, Adbrands