The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

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By Webb Wright, NY Reporter

June 14, 2022 | 2 min read

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.

Embodying a sense of smooth self-confidence and a blissful disregard for what others might be thinking of him, the protagonist in Southern Comfort’s beloved 2012 ‘Whatever’s Comfortable’ ad strolls down a beach wearing nothing but a trim (and revealing) bathing suit, sunglasses and shoes – sans socks.

His handlebar mustache and his bronzed, glistening gut both protrude proudly as he steps carelessly over and around other beachgoers. He swings his arms and his shoulders rhythmically as if dancing to the ad’s soundtrack – Hit or Miss by Odetta – which is an anthem of self-assured swagger in and of itself. A dog jumps up and begins to walk alongside him, apparently drawn in by the gravitational pull of the man’s alpha dog aura.

At one point, after leaning in flirtatiously to a young woman – who seems charmed by him – he walks off camera and returns a moment later holding a glass of Southern Comfort. He resumes walking down the beach, the little dog running behind him to keep up. The ad was created by the brand’s then-new agency, Wieden + Kennedy New York.

Creative Brand Strategy The World's Best Ads of All Time

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