20 Creative, Interesting, and Amusing Advertisements

A good advertisement will draw a prospective customer’s attention towards your product. That is what every business really wants, aside from you actually purchasing their product. In this article we will round up 20 great ads that cover many different styles but all have one thing in common, that is they connect to their audience.

The average consumer isn’t going to spend more than a minute reading or staring at an advertisement they see on a webpage or on a billboard. The average time a person spends on an ad outside is 1.7 seconds, and 15 seconds on the Internet. The Internet has transformed us into fast browsers who skim through articles (hopefully not this one) and quickly glance at product advertisements they see every day. Our attention span has drastically decreased since the Internet came into play and because of that, ads now have to get their point across quickly through something that is pleasing as well as amusing to the eye. Aesthetically creative ads will get a prospective customer engaged in whatever you are selling or saying.

In our society we are bombarded every day with ads for everything under the sun. On average, we see 3,000 ads daily. Because of this we subconsciously ignore them unless we see something we like. Some ads don’t necessarily want to sell you anything, they rather raise awareness; but the same formula goes for them as well. In this article I present 20 ad’s that I believe have successfully shown the prospective consumer their product/message in a quick manner and in a pleasing artistic environment. As we will see from the ads featured, the design is only part of what you will need to create the perfect ad.

Inspiration

Titanic Cinema: Matrix

This ad works because of its clever play on a classic movie scene, which also ties into their product. The scene from The Matrix is pixilated which prompts the consumer to wonder why and then see their quote promoting their product. Simple and to the point with an interesting art direction. This advertising campaign also redid some other classic films like India Jones, so check out the rest of this set.

King Oscar: Open

This ad puts forth an idea that King Oscar’s fish products are as fresh as they can possibly get. This idea is then executed by blending a fish and one of their canned products showing the consumer they will be buying a fish straight from the ocean. This simplistic image gives off just enough to tell the consumer what the deal is with their product.

Pepsi: Straws

This clever Pepsi ad speaks volumes to the consumer; at first glance it gives the impression that Pepsi Cola is the preferred choice of even the straws. And then after that it subliminally pokes fun at one of Pepsi’s competitors by using their color-way for the other can as well as their classic design. This is a very clever ad on many levels.

Ira Motoparts: In The Motorcycle With You

“The transit is a forest. Be on top of the food chain” Starts off this ad, a clever quote compares the streets and highways of the world to a jungle, so in that case why not be the quickest in the jungle like the cheetah which we see displayed in the middle of the ad built out of this companies motor parts. While you might not quickly grasp their message the imagery does pull you in long enough to understand it.

Geek Squad: Son Of A

This is a very funny ad with as simple of a design as it can get. The consumer is instantly drawn in by the bold writing and the starting of an expletive and the notices the cut off with the Geek Squad logo and the quote “Fixed before it gets nasty”. This is only one part of a series of many curses, so you can check out the rest of these smart ads.

Fedex: USA-Brazil

This is another ad that shows what simplicity can do for your company’s message. A simple image with an extremely bright idea gives the consumer all they need to figure out what you are selling.

Canal+: iPhone Titanic

This ad may take a bit more time to understand than the rest but the design itself can keep a consumer interested. The large finger and the iPhone in the corner can quickly help the viewer connect the dots with the sinking Titanic ship and show that we can have all our favorite movies right on our iPhones.

National Anti-Counterfeit Committee: Watch

This is one of those ads which was mentioned in the introduction, something that isn’t necessarily selling something but rather giving of a message for a cause or a movement. Well this ad’s imagery gets the viewer involved enough to look towards the bottom and read about how counterfeiting finances organized crime.

Drive Safe

Like stated earlier, ads can give off strong messages as well. In this ad we see a damaged human leg, but instead of bones and blood it looks more like a crashed car. This clever message shows us just what its quote says, "…Car accidents don’t just happen to cars".

Panasonic 3D TV: Dino

Here is another ad that has a lot going on but still is able to get its message across fairly easily. We will first notice the dinosaur in the trashed living room but then see the girl pointing at the TV, which will give us the impression that Panasonic’s 3D televisions are extremely realistic. The great art direction leads to the consumer understanding what product is on display almost instantly.

Celcom Broadband: Coverage

Our next ad puts a very clever twist on a product. We all instantly recognize the Wi-Fi symbol but then notice it is built from famous monuments across the world, once we look further down we notice the product which is giving us Wifi. Once again it is something that says a lot without having to clutter up a whole canvas with different designs.

Ford Germany: Do Knot Forget

Obviously Ford wants you to see that wires are bad, showing us 15 different types of wired knots and then ending with an amusing quote on the bottom of the ad “Do knot forget: Bluetooth comes with every new Ford Model”. This is a very smart approach, showing the consumer a common problem that they might have experienced and then giving them a solution in a very amusing way.

Bangalore Traffic Police: Don’t Talk While She Drives

This ad gets a strong message across in a graphic way. The blood spatter draws the viewer in and shows them that it is coming from the telephone, leading them to picture something gruesome happening to whoever the man is talking to. And then the quote puts it all together that you shouldn’t be on the phone while driving.

Band Aid: Hulk

Band Aid is showing just how flexible its fabric is in this ad. This amusing ad shows that this band-aid does not even snap on the finger of The Hulk who is at the center of this image. It works because it’s simple and it shows you all that is needed and nothing more, its flexible, so buy it!

Some Things Are Not What They Seem: Internet Date

The art direction and illustration in this ad is fantastic, it gives us two separate pictures that are each on a different spectrum and blends them together through a common value which in this case is the internet. The idea is once again simple and not too complicated, and it gets its point across that the Internet is sometimes dangerous so protect yourself.

Heinz Hot Ketchup: Fries

This is one of the more elegant ads featured in this list because of its soft colors and simplicity. It gets straight to the point and that’s it, nothing more to it. A very solid advertisement that is the perfect example of a simple idea illustrating a whole concept to the consumer.

Alca-Luftal: Cow

We first see the image of the large wooden cow being dragged by soldiers, most people will attribute this to the Trojan Horse and then wonder what is inside it, at that point the quote tells us all we need to know, “Watch out for unpleasant surprises”. This ad is different yet it is clever enough to keep a consumer interested for an extra few seconds to get the point and acknowledge the product being displayed.

Rhythm House: 50 Cent Voodoo

Now this ad is a little iffy if you do not recognize who the voodoo doll is, but if you do then it is a great ad and it is directed to the core music audience. This original ad shows us a popular music icon as a voodoo doll, which leads us to ask why and see the bottom quote which is emphasizing to not pirate music. Clever ad that might not hit everyone but if it does it definitely gives off its point.

Western Union: Money Transfer

This ad is idealistically similar to the Fedex one I mentioned earlier, it takes a different approach but the idea still hits hard in a very interesting way. 2 Hands, 2 different types of currency, being transferred along through Western Union. Great idea with simple execution makes for a quick ad that gets a message across with ease.

MTV Switch: Fists of Fury, Tornado

Our last advertisement is raising awareness by showing off a very impressive illustration, which grabs the attention of a viewer. Once they are done looking at this fantasy tornado destroying a city they read the quote and learn about what is going on. This is a case where impressive illustrations can grab viewers in and show them what you want them to see.

Advertising Tutorials

If this article has got you inspired to create your own advertisements then go ahead and check out the following roundup of some of the best advertisement & poster tutorials on the net!

Designing High Impact Poster

Shattered Typographic Poster

Shoe Advertisement

Mobile Phone Ad

Enhance Your Ad Designs

Energy Drink Ad

Nike Style Ad

Ice Cold Ad

Laptop Ad

Alien Movie Poster

Fresh Fruit Ad