As much as we want to perceive ourselves as artists, you've got to keep in mind that these ads are being seen by drunk people in noisy bars. They have to work like billboards. A parody of a Gap ad, in which gyrating dancers are mowed down by a gleaming Oldsmobile, is pronounced a waste of a good idea. They should have somehow kept it straight. I hate to see such an obvious cut to a hard product payoff.
Some ads go over big.
The group is impressed by a first-quarter Mountain Dew spot, which features a Dew drinker cycling manically across an African plain to reclaim his soda from a cheetah. Nods of agreement all around. It's what you call a long walk for a short drink. The 30-second spot features a woman skiing down a steep slope. The only sound is the whoosh of her skis slicing through the snow.