Insig's top 10 ads for 2006

For their latest issue, Insig looked back at what South Africans said, thought and did during 2006 and compiled 'Ten of the Best' in over 30 categories from 10 of the Best gadgets, movies, cars and sporting moments to the Top 10 towns to visit, books on shelf, people we're proud of and court case moments.

Submitted by Paice, herewith the magazine's preview of top 10 ads for 2006, was:

1. The top ad has got to be 5fm's LonelyFinger, which started on the streets as a sad and badly drawn finger directing people to his website, www.lonelyfinger.com. The target market of 18 - 25 isn't interested in commercial messaging, so there was no branding, and LonelyFinger developed a cult following, some people sending images of their own digits for company for LonelyFinger. Finally a TV commercial revealed LonelyFinger's four friends, and the payoff line: "Life's lonely without 5".

2. Opel Corsa rip-off of the BMW "mouse" ad. Some years ago the Beamer commercial featuring a mouse tiptoeing round the steering wheel was voted the best ad in South Africa ever. The Raj Brothers have engineered a moose tiptoeing round a Corsa steering wheel. The irreverent Rajes (should one call them Rajahs?) are typical of some of the refreshing, culturally self-mocking ads that our country is getting bold enough to experiment with.

3. BMW Beach Sculpture. The inspiration behind this ad was artist Theo Jansen's wind-powered beach animals. The objective was to demonstrate where art meets engineering through the metaphor of these exquisite sculptures (Jansen is an engineer by training and an artist by profession). It is a breathtaking commercial, not least because nowhere does the vehicle appear on the scene - that's confidence in your brand.

4. Johnnie Walker striding man outdoor advertising continues to impress by its sheer size - the choice of buildings rather than billboards gives a monumental presence to the message, which resonates with the new middle class, with its emphasis on personal development. The brand has exceeded premium whiskey growth rates.

5. Cell C's crop circles. All Cell C advertising is very effective in building a cheeky brand personality, but the one launched on April Fool's day, revealing little by little a series of circles in a cultivated field, with comment from a bewildered farmer and assorted new age experts, takes it to new levels. They eventually turn out to be a big C - what was remarkable was it used a new medium for the message: agriculture.

6. The Axe campaign "Get a girlfriend" is one of the most successful examples of tight targeting in a mass audience we've seen in years. It depicts guys doing the sort of stupid things guys do (e.g. recreating scenes from Jaws with dolls and tomato sauce) - if they don't have a girlfriend. If you like them you're in the target market. If you don't, you're not. That's knowing your market.

7. Nampak's radio ad for Twinsaver toilet paper - you get 500 sheets out of one roll. It is another of those glorious new South African ads that gets us all laughing at the little things that unite us - like appreciating the myriad accents that make us who we are.

8. Sasol's Soweto All Stars, showing township kids choosing a soccer team - the twist being the children have the names of the soccer greats of our time. It's the emotional version of the humour in the Nampak and Corsa ads - I believe advertising is ahead of the curve in pushing the boundaries of cross-cultural appreciation.

9. The Independent Electoral Commission's billboard, which uses graffiti over a standard message urging voters to register: the graffiti argues that more police means less vandalism. It was clever use of urban culture on an unexpected brand.

10. Nando's finger puppet television commercial. This seems to be the year for fingers - except, in this ad, the protagonist eats Tony Moneo, one of his finger puppets, by mistake when he is licking his fingers. It captures the horror of the puppeteer wonderfully and is just ridiculous and that's why we love it.