Best Ads of 2022

We may not have the same audience as Adweek or AdAge but, as 2022 draws to an end, as a bit of fun we (the AgencySoft team) decided to share our favorite ads of the year with you.

In no particular order…..

Gatorade - ‘Love Means Everything’ - TBWA\Chiat\Day

It’s hard to believe that Serena Williams and Roger Federer will no longer grace the world’s top tennis courts. It certainly feels like an end of an era. This ad by TBWA\Chiat\Day for Gatorade is narrated by Beyonce and uses the play on the word “love” to show us the power of love. Love for “yourself and everything that you do.”

Serena (and her sister Venus) broke most tennis stereotypes and are now inspirations for young women of color. We will miss Serena but we’re looking forward to seeing all the stars that she influenced come through over the coming years.

Apple - ‘The Greatest’ – Apple

Our founder, Mike, grew up with an uncle with down syndrome so this ad has a personal connection. Many years have passed since, Uncle Tony, was with us but he would have been blown away by all the features that Apple devices have to assist the disabled community.

“Hats off” to Apple for another fantastic ad!!!!

Resident Evil – The last 72 hours – The Founders Agency

This is a fabulous ad by one of the up-and-coming ad agencies, The Founders Agency. One of several Latin-rooted agencies which show the incredible creative talent the region has. If we’re not mistaken, this ad won awards and has helped the agency nearly double in size over the past year or so. Filmed for Netflix to promote its new “Resident Evil” series, it’s filmed in Santa Monica with a live audience that watches a man slowly become a zombie.

Oreo - ‘The Note’- 360i

We’re not sure what the relevance to Oreo’s is but again this is an emotive, thought-provoking ad about a topic that should be a non-topic in the 21st century. Indeed, coming out is not a one-time event. It is a series of many conversations with family and friends, colleagues, etc.

Well done 360i for creating this work!!

Duolingo - ‘#TattooDuoOver’ - BETC Paris

We like this ad because its funny and, like so many funny ads, plays on some element of truth.

Anyone that has had a tattoo in a foreign language has the nagging fear that it does not say what they think it does. Especially if the idea to have the tattoo was conceived on vacation after a few too many drinks….

Duolingo, the language learning app, offered “a chance” to help anyone who has been a victim of a tattoo that did not say what they thought to have it fixed by a proper tattoo artist if they tweet a photo of the tattoo with the hashtag #TattooDuoOver

You have to watch it to see the funny side….

Coors Light - ‘The Coors Light’ – Mischief

We’ve been following Mischief for a while now and the agency has a great vibe about it and seems like a great place to work. That “mischief” is translated to the work that they do and the Coors Light ad is a great example. They contract NFL quarterback, Patrick Mahomes to star in a Coors Light ad but the NFL rules prohibit him from promoting alcohol so he promotes a Coors flashlight (torch if you’re from the UK)

John Lewis - ‘The Beginner’ - adam&eveDDB

This was another choice by Mike, partly because he’s from the UK, and maybe missing home! Maybe also because trying to relive his youth is just the sort of thing that he would do. Seriously though, John Lewis together with adam&eveDDB decided to make this about the kids in the care system and JL’s commitment to supporting them. Not just for Christmas.

Corona - ‘Native Sportscasters’ - We Believers

Many of us (certainly outside the US) have been glued to the FIFA World Cup so this is semi-apt as it relates to soccer in Mexico. This is not just a great ad-but also educational – Did you know that there were 68 dialects spoken in Mexico?!

Corona was/is sponsoring the Mexican national team so decided to recruit broadcasters for the local dialects and we see them narrating a national team game.

Nice work We Believers!

Oechsle - ‘Mannequins Spectators’ - Fahrenheit DDB

After two years since the Pandemic started, Theaters in Peru still had capacity restrictions. 35% of the seats remain empty, which means 35% of unsold tickets. Oechsle, one of the biggest retailers in Peru decided to help the theaters by buying the unsold tickets to sit their Mannequins in the restricted seats and show their collections. It was a win-win for the retailer and the theaters.

Quilmes- Coincidencias- Draftline

This ad created by Draftline, Quilmes’ in-house agency, found all the coincidences between the world cup in 1986, when Argentina won, and the world cup in Qatar 2022. This year, Argentina entered the competitions as one of the favorites and ended up wining.

This campaign feels more special now that Argentina won. Did all the coincidences shown on the campaign have anything to do with it? Who knows, but it was a very moving campaign for the ones who chose to believe in Argentina.

EDEKA.- Fest versprochen- Jung von Matt

EDEKA, Germany’s largest retailer, is well known for its moving Christmas campaigns. In 2015, the business launched an ad about the importance of coming home for the holidays that went viral around the world and until 2022 has accumulated more than 69 million views.

This year, EDEKA’s campaign reached 6.3 million views in just two weeks with a new message about how things don’t always go as planned, but it’s up to each of us to take those situations and make the best of them.

Nike- Footballverse- Wieden + Kennedy Portland

There’s always an ongoing debate in soccer: Who is the better player? In this fun commercial, Nike creates a soccer multiverse in which soccer players from different generations not only coexist, but also show off and compete with each other at different stages of their careers.

The humor, the inclusion of female soccer players and the familiar faces of Mbappe, Ronaldo Ronaldinho,, Cristiano Ronaldo, among others make this video quite entertaining that makes the four and a half minutes of the ad go by in the blink of an eye. .

Dove- Toxic Influence

Social media exposes young girls to dozens of tips regarding beauty and health that can be harmful to their health. In this campaign, mothers and daughters are exposed to toxic advice that reaches millions every day and shows how although mothers would not give this type of advice to their daughters, that does not mean that they do not listen to it anyway.

The campaign calls for this reality to change so that people are not exposed to toxic influences on virtual platforms.