At this time of the year we all become more tolerant with TV commercials since some Christmas ads are real pieces of art.

Luckily, advertising agencies don’t create only masterpieces at Christmas, but we can recreate ourselves with greats ads throughout the year.

If you like the art of advertising as much as I do, you’ll love this compilation of some of the best ads from different countries.

We will also see why they are so good and what emotions they appeal to in each of them.

You know, we only manage to sell something when we appeal to some of the main human emotions.

Without emotion there is no sale, this is something that the first experts in advertising realised back in the 1920s.

Some things never change.

Today, we have devices that talk to us and to whom we can give orders at home, we can operate introducing micro cameras in the body and talk to someone who is thousands of miles away, watching him smile, without paying a cent for the call, just with an Internet connection.

And yet, human emotions today are the same as they were years ago, people’s desires and concerns haven’t changed much since we have recollections of them in literature.

And if you don’t believe me, take any book by Shakespeare or Dostoyevsky.

Now, without more delay, let’s see that list and have some fun!

Are you staying?

Believe in good

This life insurance ad won the best ad award in 2014. It’s full of emotion, it’s an ode to life and love.

In general, life insurance ads appeal to the most important emotions, love and care for your loving ones.

The catchphrase of this ad is one of the best I’ve seen: “Believe in good”. On one side the company is reminding us what really matters in life and by extension, they tell us that we can trust them since if they believe in good they must be good.

An insurance company knows that people usually mistrust them because we hear stories every day about insurance policies having abusive terms on fine print creating difficulties to receive compensations.

This company wants to tell us that they are not like that, because they believe in good, so they are also good.

Quite a scare

This ad is very effective because in just some seconds makes us laugh introducing at the same time the new features of the 4 seat Smart.

It shows us that the car is as compact as always but that now it fits 4 people.

The main emotion we appeal here is the humour but also how great is to do things with friends.

Mannequin factory

A national tradition since 1812, Spaniards look forward to the annual Christmas lottery even if it means standing in line for hours to purchase the tickets. Nicknamed El Gordo, which means “the fat one,” prizes are valued up to more than €2.2 billion, making it the biggest lottery prize in the world.

It’s common to “share” the lottery by buying “participaciones,” or “shared tickets” at working spaces, with friends and family, and in local bars. The belief is that the Christmas lottery is very special because it’s one that Spaniards participate in together, and if they win, they win together.

Every Christmas Spaniards look forward, with great anticipation, for the “Gordo” ad because they are always excellent, but the one of the year 2015 was definitely the best up to now.

This ad is a small film that stirs many emotions and one never gets tired of watching it.

No one wants to be alone, we all want to feel loved and part of the group.

Ameriquest

Ameriquest is a mortgage lender that has become famous in North America for its series of hilarious advertisements.

The creators play here with the situation most people encounter when they need to borrow money from a bank or mortgage lender, they feel scrutinised and unfairly judged.

Tidy up your stuff

Ikea has a team of brilliant advertisers who know exactly how to captivate and entertain audiences. They tell little stories of every day’s life, with which we can all feel related.

Every day little problems that we can all face at some time, like this one…

Penguin

Buying Christmas presents is often a headache but John Lewis, the British department stores, reminds us of how much they can mean for our loving ones and therefore we should try our best to surprise them with just what they need…

Brothers

Coca-Cola has been making great ads since the 70s. And you know why they are so fantastic? Because they always manage to appeal to the emotional part of ourselves, displaying every-day life snapshots that make us feel tender.

Music is also very important in their ads. Music can magnify emotions much more than anything else.

Caterpillars

I love this ad from Japan. It’s funny, it’s tender, it’s clever and it’s original.

And most of all, it does its main job: convince us that we can trust the quality of the product.

But I don’t tell you more so you can enjoy it without knowing too much in advance!

We’ve already seen some of my favourite ads.

They all have a bit of genius but above all, they do their job. While some of them are more effective than others in generating the desire to buy, in general, TV ads need to entertain.

They don’t seek a direct response from prospects as an advertisement on social media does, but rather to build brand awareness. So that when we go to the supermarket or decide to buy a car we choose that product.

Do you want to join the fun? Leave me your favourite ads in the comments!

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Featured photo by Rhett Noonan on Unsplash