Here's a fun spot from earlier this year that picked up a silver Lion at Cannes last week. For S7 Airlines from Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam, it features cute kids being themselves, namely by describing wonderful places or things they'd like to visit, but are also impossible … or so they think.
Asked to let their imaginations run wild, the kids cook up with flight destinations that, if they had their way, would feature mammoths, mermaids, space rockets, giant sandpits, superheroes, dragons, wizards, bogeyman, a space kitty (Nyan Cat?) and subterranean cities. (It's not clear if she's thinking of Demolition Man, The Matrix or Twelve Monkeys, but she doesn't seem to have dystopian tendencies at all.) There would also be underground whales and, says the smartest kid by far, chocolate lakes.
Relaying on the charming ad-libs of kids is a familiar trick, reminiscent of past ads like Wes Anderson's animated interview with an 8-year-old on the inner workings of a Sony smartphone (though it probably also owes a decent amount to the Fine Brothers "Kids React" series, as well).
But the W+K sequence is exceptionally well edited, and features a twist that anchors it nicely in the brand. All the fantastical things and places—or approximations of them—actually do exist, if you allow some creative interpretation of reality.
Sure, the ad's reach exceeds its grasp ever so slightly, and might particular bother literalist viewers. But it really does distill what the spirit of travel can be at its best—an eye-opening, awe-inspiring experience that unlocks natural and manmade wonders. And beyond the stunning landscapes, some of the translations are particularly spectacular—Space Kitty, it turns out, is actually a yak, and underground whales are geysers.
In fact, the only real dubious one is that brown bubbling "chocolate" lake. If what you really want is fondue, you're better off staying home and dropping a few Hershey bars into a pot.