The best car ads of all time

The world of automotive advertising is a tough one, with incredibly strict regulations depending on market and a very challenging audience. No wonder most car adverts, whether they’re in print, in public or on TV, are largely bland and forgettable.

But that’s not to say it’s always the case. In fact, some car adverts are nothing short of brilliant, sticking in the public’s memory for decades after broadcast.

Here are some of the best…

Honda Accord – ‘Cog’

Cog’s beauty is in its simplicity, remaining totally free of branding until the last few moments. That’s not to say it was simple to make – it took 606 takes to create, a result of the team’s reluctance to use any CGI. The result is the most critically acclaimed television advert in history.

The three actors are perfect in these roles, and Kingsley finishes the whole lot with the fantastic line – ‘It’s good to be bad’.

This advert, produced for the 2011 Superbowl, shows off 125 years of Mercedes history making its way to welcome the latest additions to the brand. It’s a brilliant advert, set to the soundtrack of that iconic song – Janis Joplin’s ‘Mercedes-Benz’.

Audi decided to take a different approach in 2013 and created one of its most iconic advertisements. This advert featured nothing more than a shot of its halo R8 supercar revving its exposed and glorious V10 engine, and it sticks in the minds of many to this day.

Set to the immortal soundtrack of ‘My Favourite Things’ from the Sound of Music, it’s an instantly recognisable advert and certainly bought the otherwise relatively unknown Fabia into a new light.

The tone of the ad is perfect – it’s another of those brilliant creations where you’re not quite sure what it’s advertising until the very end. Even the way the narrator pauses before saying ‘… a Volkswagen’ is perfectly calculated.

Attempting to explain this ad is perhaps beyond the abilities of anyone but Citroen’s own marketing department, but it contains a CX GTI, a desert and a massive model of Jones’ head. Simple. And certainly instantly recognisable.

The ad comes to a climax as the 205 drives down a massive ski jump and flies through the air, an iconic shot that’s arguably yet to be bettered in the world of automotive advertising.