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Shot using 200 cameras, and costing £3 million, this new commercial from Toshiba employs a new filming technique dubbed “timesculpture“, an evolution of the “bullet time” method made famous by The Matrix.
Like any good ident, I like a commercial to be elaborate, ambitious, and just a little bit pointless. Toshiba ticks all the boxes with this new ad, and while clearly a play to get the kind of buzz generated by the brilliant Sony Bravia commercials, this spot is a notable effort, and reminded me that Toshiba actually made televisions.
And although I’ve suddenly find myself in the market for a TV, I’m not sure it will be a Toshiba yet. That said, I started drinking Schweppes after this amazing commercial, so maybe I’m more susceptible to advertising then I thought.

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Since my constant shilling for all things Foxtel HD apparently knows no bounds, I figure the least I could do is post the advert for the new high definition service too.
The commercial is a trip through Australian television history, from the first transmission in 1956, to the introduction of colour in 1975, right up to the launch of Foxtel HD, which I’m afraid probably won’t go down in history with the kind of reverence that they were probably hoping for, but it is an ad after all.
The song featured in the video is ‘Lost in Time’ by Melbourne artist Whitley.
- Big thanks to Christian for the video.

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A few hours ago Channel 4 broadcast what The Guardian is calling Britain’s first ever live commercial during a break in the reality show Come Dine With Me. The three minute ad came live from the skies above Spain and featured a team of professional skydivers demonstrating Honda’s latest tagline “Difficult Is Worth Doing”.
The live nature of television is one of its biggest redeeming features, and while this commercial is certainly full of the novelty factor, its an example of the innovation that not only the advertising industry will have to adopt, but also the whole television sector in general.
For more advertising fun check out a new show that started this week on ABC1 called The Gruen Transfer, a very funny and interesting look into the industry. Or just check out some of my favourite ads, here and here.
- Thanks for the video Craig
Continue reading ‘Channel 4 goes live for a Honda advert.’
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Captured at 10,000 frames per second, and shot in Australia, this ad for Schweppes by agency George Patterson Y&R is simply stunning. Accompanied by the track “To Build A Home” by The Cinematic Orchestra the 90 second spot creates the kind of inspiring, engaging, memorable and beautiful imagery that drove me to start this site.
Long time readers of this blog may have figured out by now that I have a strong belief that the commercial aspects of idents detract greatly from the creation of a successful spot. Which is why my most favorable comments are generally left to public broadcasters, or more progressive commercial stations who are willing to take the risk to create something beautiful and artistic.
From that you can probably gather that there are even fewer advertisements (purely commercial devices) that I feel strive for or attain the kind of artistic levels that some idents do. The “bouncing balls” of Sony Bravia for example is exceptionally well crafted, and traverses the gap between between ad and art, as does this amazing spot from Schweppes.
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