This great film for the Young Director Award (YDA) was created by TBWA Helsinki and directed by Rogier Hesp, who is part of L-A-D-A, a ‘production company for new creative talent’. Hesp is one of the young directors that last year made the festival’s shortlist. With the (already existing) pay-off ‘Born to create drama’, the film is pretty much on briefing.

Heineken has a history of launching premiums – to be obtained through a crate of beer – before the European and World Championship of football. The last 4 tournaments Heineken’s agency TBWA created all sorts of hats that enabled the audience to make some noise during the matches – last time, in South Africa, it was the Pletterpet. This spring – getting ready for Euro2012 – Heineken (and TBWA) not only exchanged the hat for a shirt, it also changed the tone of the commercial around the event. The advertising now feels weirdly incongruent; it starts with three guys that seem to have walked out of a bad Italian car commercial. And then it continues with ‘international’ shots. Even the ‘drinking-with-mates-in-a-bar’ shot is anything but Dutch – with fake bar and exotic models. The only thing that is really Dutch about the commercial is the KLM plane wearing an orange shirt and the ‘haha’ joke with ex international Ronald Koeman at the end. It feels as if the Dutch beer brewer was in a split between being the global, cosmopolitan brand and a chauvinistic football friend that wants to sell as much beer as possible in the supermarket. Well, in our opinion, it’s none of the above and stuck in the middle. And when you ask yourself what’s up with the numbers, you have to guess, cause the voice-over only speaks of supporting Orange with ‘your legendary deed.’ Oh well, whatever, we’ll probably drink a few Heinies during Euro2012 anyway.

Imagine you enter a hotel room before visiting a Champion’s League match and you find the trophy ‘with the big ears’ in your room. Wow! Nice! Yep, that’s how we would react. Though we always doubt the authenticity of case films – they almost never feel entirely real – we have to say this makes quite a sympathetic ad. Especially the guy taking a quick picture before he opens the door, made us smile. The concept reminds us of of the Italian Heineken ad that won a golden Lion in Cannes in 2010. The concept: football fans are taken to a classical concert by their girlfriends during the Champion’s League final. But not really; they get to watch the final on a big screen. Clearly a strategy/concept with mileage. Created by the United States of Fans.

We learned a new word today; ‘captcha’ – the text you need to fill out in an online form to make sure you’re not a bot. TBWA used it to promote a free eye exam at Pearle opticians. The hard to read captcha on the left changed into the banner on the right; ‘Time for an eye exam’. The banner directed the consumer to the Pearle site where an appointment could be made. Simple but sweet.

There’s a somewhat strange trend going on in the Netherlands. Ambulance personnel is being harrased quite regularly whilst trying to do their job. You wonder how ambulance personnel could possibly evoke any aggression. And when you see this SIRE commercial, with the pay-off “If we respect our medical care providers in wartime, why not in peacetime”, it becomes even weirder to think about it. You can sign the petition ‘Hands Off’ here. Strong one, by Selmore and director Rogier Hesp (Caviar).

A guerrilla make-over to promote Holland’s largest DIY, Gamma’s wallpaper. The pay-off: “Isn’t it beautiful?” Well, if you’re asking our opinion; no this wallpaper is not beautiful. But the idea is though. Created by TBWA\Neboko.