The Drum is launching a sequel to its World’s Best Ads of All Time list. Instead of TVCs, the new focus will be exclusively on out-of-home advertising. We invite you to help us get it right.
We’re launching The World’s Best Ever Out-of-Home Ads – but we need your help
The Drum’s original World’s Best Ads of all Time list was released during Cannes Lions 2022 and overshadowed some of that year’s winners with a love-in around the classic TV commercials that defined the industry. How could any new work stand up to Honda ‘Cog’ or Guinness ‘Surfer’?
Isn’t it about time the outdoor industry received kudos, too? Well, we believe so, and that’s why we’re launching The World’s Best Ever Out-of-Home Ads – but we need your help.
The new list will highlight the power of outdoor advertising, a medium that has long been central to brand-building and cultural influence. We also posit that the channel is all too often overlooked despite its many recent digital innovations.
As with the first project, The Drum is asking you, the marketing community, to have your say by nominating your favorite ever out-of-home ads now.
Practitioners from every corner of the industry are invited to nominate outdoor ads that made a lasting impression, whether through wit, provocation or cultural resonance. And don’t hesitate to dig through the archives. We want to see creativity that changed the course of the medium or brand itself, be it through strong use of copy, placement or even tech. The best is subjective, so the best arguments will win.
Once nominations are collected, our editorial team will investigate the longlist and whittle it down with a panel of industry judges, including System1’s Andrew Tindall, who has conducted extensive research into OOH effectiveness professionally, and in his free time as a hobby...
“This is a chance to spotlight the enduring creativity of out-of-home advertising, at a time when the medium itself is enjoying a resurgence,” said John McCarthy, opinion editor at The Drum. “Outdoor has always been a canvas for bold ideas, and the work performs disproportionately well on TheDrum.com because people love it. This project will remind us why those ideas matter. We might even inspire a few marketers to give the medium a try for the first time.”
The list will be unveiled in the last week of October, accompanied by features and interviews celebrating the stories behind the work. Please share the survey below with avid OOH and creativity celebrants so we have no excuses for missing any top work from the last 100 years.