WSJ: Best & Worst Ads of 2008

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122999459168528847.html?mod=yahoo_hs&ru=yahoo
THE BEST
"Yes We Can," a music video produced by will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, showed footage of a speech by President-elect Barack Obama as musicians and celebrities echoed his words.

Burger King, The burger baron, resorted to a hoax dubbed "Whopper Freakout" that snatched the Whopper from the menu at two stores and used hidden cameras to film customers' dismay.

E*Trade gave us a talking baby during this year's Super Bowl to show that online banking and trading is so easy, even you-know-who could do it.

Pepsi - An online video showed a ball girl for the Fresno Grizzlies minor-league baseball team scaling the wall to make a stunning catch of a foul ball. A bottle of Gatorade appeared briefly at her feet.

Apple used interactive banner ads this year, featuring its well-known Mac and PC ad characters. In an ad that appeared on the home page of the New York Times site, the nerdy PC character dragged a story with the headline "Stop Switching to Mac!" into the ad space on the right side of the screen.

THE WORST
Microsoft shelled out about $10 million for pitchman Jerry Seinfeld and paired him with Bill Gates for a massive Windows ad campaign. In one spot, the pair shopped for shoes; in another, they bunked with a family.

Toyota - car ad pushing zero-percent financing featured a version of the 1983 Fixx song "Saved by Zero."

Salesgenie.com - One animated Super Bowl ad featured a panda couple, speaking in Asian accents, who worry they may go out of business and are saved by a panda psychic who recommends Salesgenie. Another spot showed a white boss berating an Indian salesman, Ramesh, who has eight children.

AIG - Ads for the troubled insurance company carried the slogan "The Strength to Be There." One ad featured cute children concerned about complex financial issues. They told their worries to their parents, who quickly reassured the moppets that everything was indeed OK, because "We're with AIG."

Pfizer - TV and print ads featured Robert Jarvik, the inventor of the artificial heart, peddling the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor. In one ad, Dr. Jarvik says, "Just because I'm a doctor doesn't mean I don't worry about my cholesterol."