World’s best ads ever #16: Thai Life pulls on heartstrings with ‘Unsung Hero’
We asked our readers to vote for their favorite commercials of all time. Top creatives from the World Creative Rankings and The Drum’s Judges’ Club then ranked the ads. Now, we bring you the definitive 100 best TV and video ads of all time.
South-east Asian ads have a reputation for being tear-jerkers and this 2014 spot for Thailand-based insurance firm Thai Life was no exception.
The three-minute film ‘Unsung Hero’ comes from Ogilvy & Mather Bangkok and tells the story of a good Samaritan whose deeds go unnoticed but, as the ad unfolds, he sees the positive results of his kindness, from helping a begging child get into school to bringing back to life a dying plant and befriending a stray dog.
The spot was directed by Thanonchai Sornsriwichai (who you will find several times on this list), while Korn Tepintarapiraksa served as executive creative director. The original YouTube video has amassed 110m views.
Ogilvy and Thai Life previously teamed up for another weepy, ‘Silence of Love’, which debuted in 2011. The film told the story of a deaf daughter and her father who had a turbulent relationship, but when she’s rushed to the hospital her father’s actions prove his love for her.