Over the past week or two, publications around the world have begun to reveal their ‘Best ads of 2017’ listicles. Of course, many of these publications are based in Europe or the United States, which means few (if any!) campaigns created by agencies in the Asia Pacific make the cut – another reminder of why festivals like ADFEST are so important, because we are always fighting to put creativity from our region on a global stage J
 
Despite the fact that many ‘Best Ads of 2017’ articles inadvertently overlook work created in the Asia Pacific, they’re still crammed with inspiring ideas.
 
So we thought we’d share some of our favorite campaigns, which feature in Creative Review’s ‘Ads of the Year’, Creativity’s ‘Best of 2017’ or Business Insiders’ ‘10 best ads of 2017’, all out this month.
 

State Street Global Advisors’ ‘Fearless Girl’, by McCann New York
 
Needless to say, we’re delighted to see Fearless Girl top many of this year’s rankings, especially in light of the fact that Joyce King Thomas is joining ADFEST 2018 as Grand Jury President. As Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of McCann XBC in New York, Thomas helped to “shepherd” Fearless Girl into existence. Hopefully she’ll tell us all about it when she joins us in Thailand next year!
 

Burger King, Google Home of the Whopper; by David
 
With the help of David in Miami, Burger King had the ingenious idea of including ‘OK Google, what is the Whopper burger?’ in one of its ads, triggering Google Home devices to start reading from Burger King’s Wikipedia page.
 
As Creative Review says: “The campaign may have been invasive, but sparked wide discussion in media across the world, with Burger King gaining PR all the while.”
 
It’s a campaign that perfectly reflects the theme of ADFEST 2018, ‘Transform’, because it demonstrates how quickly the definition of advertising itself is transforming.
 
Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=e2yYeTlAl5I
 

Netflix ‘Stranger Things’ promotion featuring 3D World Lens on Snapchat
 
Another brand that has consistently stolen headlines this year is Netflix. It features twice in AdWeek’s ‘Year’s 23 Best Media Plans’ thanks to innovative ideas by Mediahub, while its collaboration with Snapchat makes Business Insider’s top 10 ads of 2017.
 
Using the 3D World Lens on Snapchat, fans of ‘Stranger Things’ could take a virtual walk around the living room that features on the show, with the lens acting as a portal into the show itself – yet another example of how quickly traditional advertising is transforming.
 

Apocalypse, Apple, by Tom Kuntz
 
Creativitymagazine is also counting down its favourite campaigns of 2017 from now until the New Year. At #10 in Film/TV/Branded Content is this hilarious film for Apple, "Apocalypse," directed by Tom Kuntz.
 
In June, Apple kicked off its annual WWDC conference in California by screening the film, “a funny, but totally terrifying film that imagines a world without apps”, as Creativity writes.
 
It shows Apple has a sense of humour and is willing to poke fun at itself, its customers and its products.
 
Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLBUFjdD7RA