The best ad of the decade is up for grabs at the Creative Bloq at 10 Award, as part of the wider Creative Bloq Awards 2022. There have been many great ads over the last ten years, and our open nominations process whittled it down to the five on our shortlist. Now you can vote for your winner.
There are some amazing ads here, and certainly rank as some of the best ads ever made. We have the sweet whimsy of The Journey, made for John Lewis and created an annual Christmas ad phenomenon here in the UK. IKEA brought back a favourite with the Lamp Sequel ad and then there was Dumb Ways to Die, the Australian safety ad that went viral.
You can vote below for the best ad, or scroll down to view the ones nominated and read up a little on why they are still considered so groundbreaking. Be warned, a couple of them will have you in tears. The best ad of the decade category is just one of ten, and you find the full list at our Creative Bloq at 10 Awards voting page or head to specific voting sites, such as the best software of the decade.
The best ads, watch now
You Can't Stop Us
This 2020 ad for Nike juxtaposes over 4,000 hand-picked clips of professional and amateur athletes, splicing them together to create one single frame. The message is 'nothing can stop what we can do together' and editing certainly delivers. The 90 second ad features from 24 sports, 53 athletes and 72 sequences spread across 36 'pairings'. It's a great idea, beautifully executed. This is not the firsts bold new Nike ad to come along, the brand has history for delivering amazing campaigns.
Dumb Ways to Die
This Australian public campaign made by Metro Trains in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia was a viral hit when it launched on 2021, proving adorable animation and a catchy song can help even the most serious messages take root. The 'Dumb Ways to Die' brand has become so big there are video games and even an NFT that released this year.
Lamp Sequel
This was a follow-up to the acclaimed Lamp ad for IKEA by Spike Jonze, and in this, simply titled Lamp Sequel, the same play on emotions can be felt. The message of reusing old things is conveyed brilliantly and the Pixar-like emotional heartstrings-tugging of giving an old abandoned lamp a new home is wonderfully executed.
Womb Stories
The message was clear: stop giving women's health the silent treatment. Womb Stories was created for Bodyform – a brand that has embraced the problems of period product branding – and followed on from a number of groundbreaking ads that normalised the depiction of women's bodies. Womb Stories combines a mix of animation styles to real footage to explore menstruation in a new and enlightening way. Take a look at the Bodyform Womb Stories campaign for yourself.
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The Journey
Christmas ads have always been big business but we think The Journey from 2012 is the best put out by UK's John Lewis & Partners. The soundtrack features Gabrielle Aplin's version of Frankie Goes to Hollywood's hit, The Power of Love, and follows the trials of a snowman travelling home to give his wife the perfect present. We're getting all teary-eyed just thinking about it.
For all awards updates visit our site www.futureevents.uk/creativebloqawards2022 - winners will be revealed the week beginning 12 September 2022!
If you have any questions or queries about the Creative Bloq Awards 2022 or sponsorship enquiries get in touch at ian.dean@futurenet.com.
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Ian Dean is Editor, Digital Arts & 3D at Creative Bloq, and the former editor of many leading magazines. These titles included ImagineFX, 3D World and video game titles Play and Official PlayStation Magazine. Ian launched Xbox magazine X360 and edited PlayStation World. For Creative Bloq, Ian combines his experiences to bring the latest news on digital art, VFX and video games and tech, and in his spare time he doodles in Procreate, ArtRage, and Rebelle while finding time to play Xbox and PS5.