Every year, the fine folks at TED pick through all of the advertisements that bombard our eyeballs on a daily basis and single out the small subset that really challenges us to think, feel, and look at the world in a different way. They're the kind of innovative, intelligent and inventive ads that we're likely to tell our friends about. In short, they're the ads worth spreading. Which is exacly what TED calls their annual competition that seeks to highlight the best of the best.
This year Participant Media, TakePart's parent company, is fortunate enough to have been included in this esteemed group for a short video called How a Virus Changes the World. It was created as part of the Social Action Campaign for Participant's feature film Contagion, which was released this autumn and directed by Stephen Soderbergh.
We went through the list and picked our favorites to share with you. You can click through the gallery to check out the videos.
Visit the Ads Worth Spreading YouTube page to watch How a Virus Changes the World, and all of the other entries, and vote for your favorite (we'll let you guess which one we're voting for). And be sure to check out TakePart.com/Contagion to learn more about pandemics and how you can help protect yourself and your loved ones from viruses and illness.
Photo: Getty Images
How a Virus Changes the World
Dear 16-Year-Old Me
Just try not to tear up at the end of this incredibly powerful ad from the David Cornfield Melanoma Fund. It starts off on a lighthearted note, sure. But then stuff gets deep. Real, real deep. If we didn't have a horse in this race, we'd be backing this one.
Rethinking Breast Cancer
It's the bedrock principle of advertising: sex sells. Even if what you're hawking is a free smartphone app that reminds ladies to check their breasts for signs of cancer. We think it's a winner.
Climate Kid
From Do The Green Thing: "Climate Kid is the world's first child to have fully evolved to deal with his ever changing environment. Or at least he will be in a few million years if we don't find ways to adapt to climate change."
Meatless Mondays
The Humane Society of the U.S. has a simple message: Give up meat once a week to help save the planet. Don't think you can do it? Just watch this video and see if it still seems so hard.
An Urban Ramble
Do the Green Thing writes: "How does the stressed-out city dweller escape and unwind? Our new film, narrated by London to Brighton star Sam Spruell, with music by Matthew and the Atlas, follows a city man looking for freedom...who finds it on two feet."
Oxfam Gifts with Scarlett Johannson
What better way to push gifts that give back than with an animated Scarlett Johannson?
loveLife — Make Your Choice
South Africa's largest HIV prevention NGO tries to use a game show to get out an important message about the consequences of our choices.
MLK: Table of Brotherhood
Chevrolet chose to honor the opening of the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington with this spot celebrating his famous call for everyone to sit together at the Table of Brotherhood.
Statistics
From the United Way: "Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. Statisticks is a simple story of what happens when we stop there. For our children."
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