Ikea: 'Beds' (starts at 00:06) - UK
Juan Cabral – the man behind Sony's 'Balls' and Cadbury's 'Gorilla' – isn't the most prolific director of commercials but his work is always worth the wait and this Ikea commercial is sure to win a ton of awards. This captures the strangely vivid yet fleeting nature of dreams with uncanny, magical precision and Prunella Scales offers a beautiful delivery of a famous Shakespearean text.
Agency: Mother
Director: Juan Cabral
Holden: 'Buy My Barina' (starts at 01:40) - Australia
This looks – on first viewing – to be an astonishing effort by an Australian to sell his crappy old car, but there's slightly more to it than that because the young man in question happens to work for a digital agency. Even so, the whole thing was knocked together for a fraction of a normal commercial and it's a pretty funny spoof of a cliché-ridden car advert.
Agency: Chimney Group (Australia)
Director: David Johns
Nike: 'Re2pect' (starts at 02:50) - US
Derek Jeter – who is one of baseball's biggest stars – is retiring from the sport at the age of 40. He's broken more records than an angry DJ and has been a superstar for nearly half his life, and this touching tribute focuses on the respect he's been accorded by colleagues, opponents and fans who doff their caps to him when he walks out to bat. Among those paying tribute are Jay-Z, Spike Lee, Billy Crystal, Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan.
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy (New York)
Director: Matt Aselton
Samsung: 'Wall Huggers' (starts at 04:34) - US
This funny American advert pokes fun at iPhone users for being continuously at the mercy of their phone's poor battery performance. Caught out by the speed at which its juice runs out, or anxious to clock a charger socket just in case, they're depicted as wall huggers obliged to crouch on stained carpets while watching Samsung owners freely sharing video clips with one another.
Agency: 72andSunny
Director: Michael Downing
BT Sport: 'Chelsea 6 v 0 Arsenal' (starts at 05:38) - UK
Chelsea fans will not forget Arsene Wenger's thousandth game in charge of Arsenal in a hurry as they thrashed their North London rivals 6-0. BT Sport has already broadcast a similar advert celebrating Liverpool's 5-1 win over Arsenal and their fans must be hoping their team isn't selected by the broadcaster too often in 2014/15. As well as reflecting the shock this result provoked, the advert takes a wry look at the case of mistaken identity that blighted the referee's performance.
Agency: Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO
Director: Martin Werner
CLIC Sargent: 'The Joke Appeal' (starts at 06:42) - UK
This beautifully observed film publicising a worthy initiative by the charity CLIC Sargent portrays a playground scene with remarkable authenticity. A group of lads are exchanging banter typical of boys their age when one of them reveals that a friend of his - alone on the other side of the playground - is suffering from cancer. In the words of those annoying Facebook teasers... you won't believe what happens next.
Agency: Havas Worldwide
Director: Misha Manson-Smith
Jason Stone is the editor of David Reviews
