This made my day.

Another funny ad. The great thing about this is that although it is so simple, and low budget it manages to engage the viewer while still being humorous. I won’t ruin it, but I was actually proud of myself when I got the number right only to end up laughing at myself at the end.

This is another British ad, made to bring awareness to the safety of cyclists, after a whole day of driving my scooter around Manhattan, I think we could use a few ads here as well for bikers in general.

One of my favorite ads, though I may have posted it before. I think I only saw it once on TV, but every couple of months I get the urge to watch it again. The song in the ad, by the way, is by Mint Royale, an electronica duo turned solo act based out of Manchester, England.

It’s easy to get used to seeing ads in the context of which laundry detergent, pet food or fast food restaurant you should prefer, but there are often times when advertisements mean much more. They can be used to educate, warn, make light or terrorize us on a particular topic, and to me, that is when they can truly become powerful in a way that commercial advertising can rarely touch.

The above ad is one of three, found via Adverbox, created by Amnesty International in protest of the olympic games taking place in China, due to the reported mistreatment of social and political workers there. We all saw the commotion that followed the Olympic torch around, though the effectiveness of those displays is arguable. Are these any more so? Judge for yourself.