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Leo Burnett Helps Narrow Them Down To 100.

NEW YORK - If you search Amazon.com for "The 100 Best ..." or the "Top 100" it retrieves up to 3,729 possible books. That's a lot of lists.

Longtime advertising journalist Bernice Kanner recently added to the enumerated masses with the recent release of Random House's Times Books publication of The 100 Best TV Commercials ... and Why They Worked. Kanner, who wrote the "On Madison Avenue" column for New York magazine for 13 years, is a self-proclaimed ad addict who viewed the opportunity to write the book as "Christmas come early."

In the book's introduction, Kanner wrote: "Rather than seeing commercials ... as insidious, I see them as artful - a no-bones-about-it reflection of our times. And I see myself as an advertising anthropologist."

With the help of Leo Burnett Co., Chicago, vice chairman/chief creative officer Michael Conrad, who also wrote the foreword, Kanner presents in this 251-page volume a half century's worth of spotwork that represents the creme de la creme of television advertising.

According to Conrad (who, at press time, was on vacation in Germany and could not be reached for comment), the list on which the book is based was compiled by Leo Burnett's Creative Exchange, Chicago, back in '95 after Burnett's then-managing director in Kuala Lampur, Phil Fiebig, requested it. At the time, the Malaysian chapter of the International Advertising Association wanted to know if the Creative Exchange had a reel of the world's greatest commercials ever - and if not, could they put together such a list.

The Creative Exchange is a department unique to Leo Burnett that houses a massive archive of worldwide ads dating back to the '60s. Along with a stockpile of over 5,000 in its "great commercials library," the Creative Exchange's then-senior VP Donald Gunn (Paul Kemp Robertson is now the Creative Exchange director of creative resources worldwide) and senior coordinator Lisa Buckner left no resources untapped.

A master list was culled from Advertising Age's "Fifty Years of Television," the BBC's Washes Whiter advertising history series, the Clio Hall of Fame, the American Association of Advertising Agencies' 75th Anniversary Reel, and the U.S. Television Bureau of Advertising's historical reels, as well as Leo Burnett's own Carl Hixon's Historical Reel, Gunn's Someone Has to Get Out an Ad reel, and The Showreel of the '80s.

Burnett then enlisted countless creative directors from across the globe to assist in narrowing it down. After much deliberation, the Creative Exchange sent a reel of 193 commercials to Leo Burnett's 14-member Global Product Committee for the final cut.

The spots that appear in the book all live up to criteria that all admakers strive for: strong concept, fresh idea and brilliant execution. A short description accompanies each ad as well as a commentary on why the commercial worked. In a bonus chapter, Kanner throws in 12 more favorites under the heading "Kanner's Picks."

Blockbusters

One of the book's chapters features the big budget, big splash, talk-about-it-on-the-evening-news type of commercials. Included was Apple Macintosh's unforgettable "1984" which aired during the '84 Super Bowl: it was directed by Ridley Scott (now with bicoastal RSA USA) for Chiat/Day, Los Angeles. Also cited was Nike's '96 "Good vs. Evil," directed by Tarsem (bicoastal/international@radical.media), via Wieden & Kennedy, Netherlands, which put Nike on the map in adidas-dominated Europe; and a pair of British Airways spots directed by Hugh Hudson (now with bicoastal Piper Productions) via Saatchi & Saatchi International, including "Manhattan Landing" in '83 and "Face" in '90, both grandiose in execution.

The book includes interesting facts about the production of the spots and how they impacted product sales. For instance, the day after "1984" aired, according to Apple, 200,000 consumers flocked to dealers to view the Mac and 72,000 people bought the computers in the first 100 days. And it took 4,000 people to create "Face" for British Airways.

Other classic advertising fare included Levi's "Launderette," directed by the late Roger Lyons via Bartle Bogle Hegarty, London, where a strapping young male walks into a launderette and sheds his duds to wash them while waiting among astonished housewives. Coca-Cola's "Mean Joe Greene" directed by Lee Lacy (The Lacy Company, Los Angeles) via McCann-Erickson Worldwide was also included, and who could forget (even if you wanted to) the Energizer "Bunny" directed by Mark Coppos (bicoastal Coppos Films), introduced by TBWA/Chiat/Day in '89.

Of course critics will step up to ask why such and such commercial was not considered and what about those spots that won a Cannes Gold Lion this year - or any year for that matter. To those queries and others, Conrad simply wrote in the foreword: "The advertising industry produces brilliant work every year: the campaigns contained in these pages will never fade in their power, but there are clearly more chapters to be written."

The following is a list of the commercials highlighted in Bernice Kanner's The 100 Best TV Commercials ... and Why They Worked:

AMC, "Driving School." Alaska Airlines, "Meals." Alka-Seltzer, "Prison." Alka-Seltzer, "Spicy Meatball." Ambipur, "Cat and Fish." American Express, "Stephen King." American Tourister, "Gorilla." Apple Macintosh, "1984." Araldite, "Hammer and Nail." Audi, "Procon-Ten." BASF, "Dear John." Barney's, "Men of Destiny." Bartles & Jaymes, "Yuppies." Benson & Hedges, "Oh, The Disadvantages." Benson & Hedges, "Swimming Pool." Black Currant Tango, "St. George." Braathens Safe, "Naked Lunch." British Airways, "Face." British Airways, "Manhattan Landing." California Milk Processor Board, "Heaven." Camay, "Small Store." Campbell Soup, "Flower Pot." Carling Black Label, "Dam Busters." Centraal Beheer, "Hedgehog." Chanel, "Balconies," Chanel No. 5, "Pool." Cheer. "Diva." Chevrolet, "Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie." The Church of the Latter-Day Saints, "Water Fight." Citroen, "Le Clemenceau." Clark's, "Blueprint." Coca-Cola, "Hilltop." Coca-Cola, "Mean Joe Greene." Coty L'Aimant, "French Lesson." Courage Best Bitter, "Gertcha." Crest, "Goodbye, Harold (The Bad Tooth)." Dannon, "Old Russians." Danone, "Learn From Your Children." Democratic National Convention, "Daisy." Diesel, "5 a.m., Mono Village." Diet Pepsi, "Uh Huh." Dunlop, "Tested for the Unexpected." Dunlopillo, "Dormez Comme Vous Aime." DuPont, "Bill Demby." Energizer, "Bunny." Federal Express, "Fast-Paced World." Folha de Sao Paulo, "Hitler." Hallmark, "Dance Card." Hamlet, "Photobooth." Heineken, "Blues Singer." Heineken, "Water in Majorca." Heinz, "Margaret." Hovis, "Bike Ride." Hush Puppies, "Ventilated Hush Puppies." Isuzu, "The Liar." Jeep, "Snow Covered." John Hancock, "Bill Heater." John Smith's, "Dog Tricks." Keep America Beautiful, "Crying Indian." Kellogg, "Vesti." Laura Scudder's, "Pledge." Lego, "Kipper." Levi's, "Creek." Levi's, "Launderdette." Little Caesars, "Training Camp." MCI, "Parents." Marlboro, "Foggy Morning." Mates Condoms, "Chemist Shop." Matsushita Electric, "Little Fireman." Maxell, "Israelites." McDonald's, "Showdown Combo." McDonald's. "Sign." Menrex, "Is It Love?" Ministerio de Sanidad, National Lightbulbs, "Menu of Lights." Nestle, "Elephant." New York Lotto, "Board Room." Nike, "Bo Knows." Nike, "Good vs. Evil." Nissin Cup Noodle, "Moa/Winterelium." Norwegian Book Club, "Train 1." Parker Pen, "Finishing School." Partnership for a Drug-Free America, "Long Way Home." Pepsi, "Archeology." Perrier, "Le Lion." Philips, "Soup Couple." Pliz, "Madame Chiffon." Polaroid, "It's So Simple." Quaker Oats, "Mikey." Shiseido, "Turkish March." Singapore Traffic Police, "Glasse." Smirnoff, "Message in a Bottle." Solid Fuel Advisory Board, "Furry Friends." Solo, "Singer." Sony, "Lifespan." Southern Airways, "Orgy." Swedish Televerket, "Noxin." Timex, "Acapulco Driver." TV Espana, "Leaving Home." Union Carbide, "Chick." Valisere, "First Bra." Vittel, "Dame Pipi." Volkswagen, "Changes." Volkswagen, "Funeral." Volkswagen, "Snowplow." Volkswagen, "Lamp Post." Volvo, "Take My Car, Please." Waterman, "Le Graduate." Wendy's, "Russian Fashion Show." Xerox, "Monks." Yellow Pages, "J.R. Hartley."

COPYRIGHT 1999 BPI Communications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group

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