Life

3 Commercials You'll Actually Want To Watch

by Marisa Riley

Some ads are more than just evil 30-second-long delays preventing you from watching "Kitten Meets Hedgehog" (do it) — they're candidates for highly esteemed awards. Seeing as the Cannes Lions Festival, the world's biggest celebration of creativity in communications (a.k.a. advertising) is coming up, AdWeek rounded up the top 25 campaigns most likely to win awards this year.

In other words, these ads worth watching beyond the first five seconds.

To produce this list of potential Lion-winners (the awards at Cannes are called "Lions"), AdWeek joined forces with Leo Burnett, a worldwide advertising agency based in Chicago. They chose the best tear-jerking, knee-slapping, and in some cases, mind bending campaigns from the last 18 months.

From that list, we picked our three favorites, all of which are so genius you’ll probably forget you’re watching a commercial! (Then again, I once held an office in my university's Ad Club.) Here we go:

1. HBO Go's "Awkward Family Viewing"

Oh, HBO Go. If you’re not already sharing an account with three other people, this commercial might make you consider getting your own (or just make cold brew come out of your nose). New York-based agency SS+K draws from the awkward “I can’t believe I’m watching a sex scene with my parents” experience any young person can relate to for this 40-second spot. Oh, and did I mention Lena Dunham's exposed lower half is involved? Check it out.

2. Newcastle Brown Ale's "If We Made It"

Just because Newcastle didn't buy time during the Super Bowl this year, doesn't mean they didn't make a hilarious commercial for the occasion. Produced by New York-based agency Droga5, and featuring actress/Twitter genius Anna Kendrick, the commercial ponders what would have happened had they actually "made it." In the video, Anna Kendrick just rants about the situation and also discusses what "kind of hot" she is (“...like the-hottest-girl-in-your-improv-class hot... Am I beer commercial hot? No.”). Hilarious. Watch it.

3. Skype's "The Born Friend's Family Portrait"

For anyone who has ever used Skype to maintain a long-distance relationship (in any capacity), this one is sure to make you feel. San Francisco-based agency Pereira & O'Dell tells the story of two friends who live on different sides of the planet, who were brought together because they both only have one arm. The glue that holds their friendship together: Skype. Like I said, you will feel. A lot.

To see the rest of AdWeek + Leo Burnett's list of potential award winners, go to AdWeek.com!

Image: HBO Go