Maybe I’ve seen something like it before and cannot remember but the intense ad http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ6N-4p1kLc in which type flashes quickly throughout the 0:30 television spot is highly unusual and highly engaging. I found it haunting and very memorable.

For starters there’s zero dialog. The ‘music’ marries so well with the images and I consider this a great job of editing. The pace of the spot is almost dizzying even if you are not a fan of basketball or the NBA.

In the ad business it’s so easy to offer criticism and by that I don’t mean constructive criticism. When a client gives an agency a directive to produce advertising to promote an event (and the brand) it rarely starts off as a blank sheet of paper. This NBA playoff spot strikes me as being the brainchild of the agency – I wish I knew which agency it was so I could offer my kudos to them.

What do you think of the ad and is it groundbreaking? Do you have any other examples of provocative and effective recent television ads?