Best and worst commercials of the year

Our winner was established fairly early. But it was a fight to the bottom for the losers. I'm not sure if that's because there just aren't as many good commercials, or because it's just more fun to write in about the really bad ads.

In Test Pattern's summer of TV commercial debate, the HP frames ad (watch it here) established itself fairly early on as a front-runner. It drew so many raves that I devoted an entire day's worth of posting to it, asking whether it could be "the perfect commercial."

Readers loved the commercial for many reasons. Donna from Michigan sums it up well: "For me, it's the HP commercial with the guy and the picture frames. Love the music and am fascinated by the technology and the 'how did they do that?' factor."

The music, the Kinks' "Picture Book" in some ads, the Robins' "Out of the Picture" in another, was a big part of the ad's success. The songs are catchy and fun, and their lyrics fit well with the topic (unlike some others we could mention). But more than the music, it was the truly unusual technique that stopped many viewers and made them really watch the ad. HP attempts to explain how they did it in a message on their Web site. The most memorable version of the ad features a star who's not really an actor — he's François Vogel, French director. He put himself in the ad to show HP how it's done, and they loved him so much they kept him in it. According to this fun story from NBC's "Dateline," it took Vogel 37 takes to get it right, but when he did, he nailed it.

Not every reader put the HP ad campaign on the "best" side of things, though. More than one viewer wailed that the commercial is shown too many times, and that the frame technique is cute at first, but gets old fast. Still, those dissenting voices were all but buried by those of you who love the ad. It's an easy winner, accepting the crown from last year's Citibank identity theft ads.

We don't really have a second-place award (well, to be honest, it's not like we have a first-place award either — there are no trophies or anything, except in my mind). But if we did, it would definitely go to the GE elephant who dances to "Singing in the Rain," which can be watched here. And third place would be a tie between the puppy who goes to camp and sings "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah," for K-9 Advantix, and the Capital One huns (Vikings? berserkers? still not sure...) who have to get new jobs.

Other ads that competed for the "Best" title included Starbucks giving Hank a cheering section, Chase's couple aging to the tune of "100 Years," Office Max's wonderful "Rubberband Man," and yes, even Baby Bob for Quizno's. No fear, you'll see Bob again in this story.

Bad ads, bad ads, what you gonna do?
The bad-ad title was up for grabs up right until the last week of voting. It takes a really bad ad to grab the title from last year's loser, the beyond-hideous Digger the Dermatophye in the Lamisil ads. Digger is so nasty, so creepy, that I often had to skim past your e-mails that mentioned him, mentally covering my eyes and thinking instead of happy, cute, peaceful sites, like PandaCam. Ah, soft, cuddly pandas. I feel better now.

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