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Best Video Commercials and Ad Ideas

Many small businesses have in the past avoided using video commercials as part of their small business marketing strategy due to the high cost and limited return on investment. With online video, the equation has changed.

Now you can, for less than many small business spend on their monthly pay-per-click campaigns, create and use video ads to promote your business. To give you some ideas and inspiration we’ve put together a collection of the best video commercials and ads.

How’d we pick the best video commercials? We used the same 3 point criteria we’d use for any ad. Successful ads and commercials:

a. Grab your attention and keep it,

b. Get the message across (ideally how the product or service helps),

c. Are memorable – if once the ad is over you can’t instantly recall what product it was promoting it doesn’t matter how entertaining it was.

To Play Videos – Click on image

	The Rowboat A good example of what the small business owner can do with online video without spending a fortune to create an online advertisement. More marketing idea videos from MarketingForSuccess.

	Will It Blend Ad Want to increase your sales by 500%? That’s what these insanely funny ads by Blend Tec have done by generating a tsunami of attention for their blenders. This one alone has over 5 million views.

	PC vs Mac – At work The PC vs MAC war – from the pc’s point of view. Written and directed by Laurie McGuinness.

	South Park Mac vs. PC – Spoof Don’t watch it if South Park offends you but do note that this spoof has been viewed over 750,000 times, or four and half times as often as the single Apple commercial above.

	Tea Partay This commercial spoofs itself, making it entertaining to watch, again and again resulting in well over 3 million views on youtube alone.

	Suicide – Hoover Ad for Electrolux, China This commercial transcends the language barrier, using suspense to keep you watching and the ending has a surprise twist.

	Snickers- Get Some Nuts This ad is funny but may not appeal to everyone.

	Heinz – It’s Slow Good I wouldn’t do what the central character does in this but I’d agree with this advertisement.

	Use Condoms Another commercial that transcends language barriers and makes use of something all parents have experienced at least once.

	Travelers Insurance Rabbit Foot Commercial A good ad keeps you watching, gets the message across and helps you remember the company that ran the ad. This does all three.

	Ford Mustang with Steve McQueen Almost great. This gets off to a slow start but works in the end.

	American Express Commercial – Wes Anderson One of the best of this great series of celebrity commercials.

	Lotto Instant Kiwi – Exam This ad has a great ending.

	Volkswagen: Un-pimp Your Ride This VW commercial has been viewed over 3 million times.

	Stem Cell Research – Michael J. Fox If this ad doesn’t make you think twice, nothing will.

	Dorritos – Checkout Girl This commercial pulls out all the stops and made me hungry too.

	Bartles & Jaymes – Perfect Ice Topping Something to go with the chips?

	Swedish Self Cleaning This commercial is hard to forget and needs almost no words to get the message across.

	IBM Servers This is a great commercial take off on the heist idea.

	GoDaddy Whether you like it or not – sex sells. GoDaddy has built their marketing around it and built a hugely profitable business because of their marketing. Their product is inherently boring but their ads are anything but. This is one example of their successful ads.

	Get a Mac with Gisele Bundchen Another Pc vs. Mac ad this time with a mix of Celebrity.

	We’re Sinking! A funny commercial that uses comedy to make a point.

	Mercedes Commercial A commercial that unleashes the beast inside a Mercedes

	Lenovo X300 Can you do this with your laptop?

	Plantronics Calisto Pro An effective commercial that demonstrates how much more you can do with a hands free home office phone.
	Toyota Rav4 What lengths would you go to to protect your car from your spouse?