Advertising is really and truly a work of art. There are, of course, many forms of advertising. My blog today is going to focus on television commercials.

The folks at ad agencies have the unique ability to create some of the funniest, hard-hitting, quirky, and informative messages - which are communicated in the short time span of a commercial lasting anywhere between fifteen and sixty seconds.

Where else can you hear a story, learn about a why you need a detergent, or remember how good a greeting card makes you feel... in such a short time span?  The visuals (in the case of TV), the voiceover, the little story with a nice button at the end... all have to do with the image being created in your mind.

Jingles help too.  Not all commercials have them... but when they do, a winning jingle will become an earworm for days, even years, and you'll never forget the product.

One of my favorite commercials is the Free Credit Report dot com commercial. Actually, there are two of them that I love.  Have I used the service? Nope. I haven't had the need for a credit report. But if I did, I would consider using it.

Click here for the Pirate in a Restaurant commercial

Click here for the Driving in My Used Subcompact commercial

A commercial that's been airing lately for Ally Bank has me cracking up everytime I see it. The look on this little girl's face is priceless. She's no fool.

Click here for the Ally Bank Pony commercial (this is an article from AdWeek, with the video)

My other favorites are the Geico commercials, with the talented voiceover actor, DC Douglas.  In his blog, he writes about this campaign and posts the videos of these great commercials... check it out. These commercials were memorable, funny, and relatable.  Now they have a new campaign - "The Money You Could be Saving with Geico" - which my guess is has been another homerun for Geico. In circulars in the Sunday paper, they even include a little "money with eyes" thing that you can put together and leave around your house. I put ours together and left it on the coffee table and freaked my husband out. When he asked me what it was... over course I said, "It's the money you could be saving with Geico."  Good fun!

In the end, overall, commercials need to be relatable. Ad agencies are really geniuses in being able to create the relationship in a matter of seconds. Commercials need to touch you in some way - be it your funny bone, your emotions, your intelligence - so that you can relate to the product and have a need for it.  The voiceover in the commercial, while seemingly insignificant, is not.  You aren't just going to relate to what is being said, but how it's being said.  

So, share with us your favorite TV commercials, and why!!!