And the Oscar for best TV ad goes to ...

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There have been some great TV ads on over the past few months - creativity rules again and for once we can work out what they are trying to sell us(Remember all those surreal long-necked headless people and the flashy MTV FX? What was THAT all about?!) So - what are your fave ads on TV at the moment? I'm in the UK but please feel free to share whatever you're watching in your neck of the woods. Let me know if they actually make you buy the product which, much as we hate to admit it, is the point after all. These are my top 4,in reverse order, with my reasons for picking them. Best car ad award: goes to the Mitsubishi Lancer, which also gets best supporting actor (The Dad, as either the son or the motor are the leads in this) CLIP: Father drives son home from school. Son askes, "Dad, where did I come from?" Dad says, "Well ..." The rest is done entirely without dialogue. Instead, some hilarious hand movements and backdrop scenes (exploding fireworks, train going through tunnel) to the tune of "Birds and the Bees." At the end the kid says "Wow, Dad, that's so cool! Jimmy Johnson only comes from Scotland!" The look on the Dad's face is priceless. Everything is right here - a total makeover of an old joke, that stays just the right side of risque not to cause offence. It would have got the top spot, but for the fact I had to google several times to remember the brand. Will I test drive the product? No, can't afford to. I'd marry the driver, though. And at least I remembered the ad was FOR a car. Best 'cuteness factor' award: Triple Velvet toilet tissue, which also gets the award for: "Best ad for remembering what they were selling." Toddler too young to talk is VO'ed by three year old giving us some grown-up sales spiel, while baby in suit goes thru' the motions of being CEO of Kleenex toilet tissue. Loads to love here, including the : "How did donkey get there?" (on the slide show) and watering the office plants with a toy watering can. And who hasn't said "Soft, soft soft" when buying their 12 pack of toilet tissue, even if it WAS ASDA basics rather than Kleenex triple velvet? Have I bought the product? Er, yes. But only cos there wasn't any of the cheap stuff left. Honest. Most original marketing campaign: All this year's Oscars have been awarded for fun and originality, but Comparethemarket.com gets top spot for crossing the media divide from TV to IT - and creating a whole new cult based around Alexandr, creator of Comparethemeerkats.com. Yes, I did log on and yes, there really is a website devoted to Alexandr and his meerkats. You can select a meerkat, send PMs to Alex himself or download his latest advert. The chat log says it all - some women want to bear his, er, kittens. Check it out! Yes, I do use comparethemarket.com - but I visit its meerkat equivalent a good deal more. Needless to say, the meerkat site has numerous links for its human-based sister site. Very, very clever. But the Oscar award for best TV ad of all time goes to: The Aero bubbles advert. Not currently showing (you can catch it on YouTube) but immortalised simply because ... oh come on, sexy hunk, clad in nothing but a skimpy towel, making suggestive comments about pleasure and sticky sensations in the mouth, whilst provocatively rolling a nipple-sized ball of chocolate between finger and thumb? X-rated maybe, but the pleasure in awarding this Oscar, ladies, is all mine! Soon to follow: The TV Raspberry awards, led by the 118 adverts ...