High Five: July

It’s the summer time and the weather is – well, variable, to be honest. But people are going on holiday and stuff, so there’s that to be thankful for. Also, the commercials this time of year have a jaunty optimism to them that says “don’t worry, everything is gonna be just fine (as long as you buy our product.)” This month’s best ads come from some good-time products, so why argue? Just buy the bikes, games consoles, booze and energy drinks and go on a summer bender of reckless fun.

Halfords – Tour de Britain

This film plumbs the depths of a home truth we may never have thought about – that there are lots of amusingly reductive stereotypes associated with cyclists. Jumping on the Tour de France while it’s inspiring people to get biking, it serves as a little reminder that Halfords sell bikes if you fancy getting one. Not a particularly pioneering idea, but a fun, sunny one, worthy of Mother’s reputation for provoking smiles. With The Glue Society bringing a good dose of epic to it, it’ll probably sell some bikes.

PlayStation – Greatness Awaits

Speaking of epic, it would have been impossible to make this ad without mentioning the word. It’s a tried and tested idea – PlayStation have been celebrating the godlike powers video games give you for yonks now, and why not? It’s the reason a lot of gamers game. It’s the sort of spot people enjoy making – a grandiose script, lush production design, fantastical creatures and space ships to keep the VFX wizards at The Mill busy. As a result, it’s fun to watch.

Southern Comfort – Shampoo

Here’s another aging eccentric to serve as champion for this unorthodox tipple. He might not be quite as instantly lovable as his beach-strolling predecessor, but this chap has that effortless oddball charisma that Southern Comfort are all about these days. It would be easy to ruin this idea with bad casting or a tiny slip up in direction, although Tim Godsall helming certainly alleviates some of these worries. A great follow-up to last year’s iconic commercial.

Strongbow – Moments of Truth

O Fortuna must get brainstormed all the time as an ad soundtrack. It probably gets dismissed as too hackneyed most of the time – it’s musical shorthand for the ominous and daunting. But it’s the perfect accompaniment for this surrealist extravaganza, and the sound design works in complete harmony with the visuals. A fun script, well envisioned and fantastical. With Sam Brown behind the camera and MPC providing impressive VFX it fits into Strongbow’s legacy of filmic TV ads just fine.

V – Silence the Troll

Do you know what rule 34 is? You do? You filthy internet people disgust us. For those purer of mind, the rule says that if something exists on the internet, there’s some kind of porn related to it. The people who know that will love this film, because they have likely spent a lot of time on message boards and comment threads and are therefore familiar with the troll species. It’s a fun piece and the online campaign around it is a good laugh.