finding cain

They're on mugs, clothes, bags, pillows, shoes. They're in cereals, cotton candies, cakes. Little girls love them. Heck, some boys and adults are obsessed too. But do unicorns exist? Yes. And there's lots of them.

It's happened to all of us. You're in front of the computer, laughing through another hilarious YouTube clip, when the video suddenly cuts to a commercial and your mood suddenly changes. Most advertisements are boring—something to fast forward, or disregard, while you're waiting for your show to resume. But others are interesting, well told, and worth watching in its entirety. This heartwarming campaign for Galalite Screens is one of them.

This is a commercial for Hyundai Nexo, featuring Olympic swimmer Mireia Belmonte. The Korean automaker wanted to show how clean the vehicle's emission is, so they challenged the 28-year-old Spanish athlete to run on a treadmill inside a bubble connected to the SUV's exhaust pipe. The Nexo is a hydrogen fuel cell powered automobile that emits water vapor and 99.9 percent filtered oxygen instead of pollutants. So the air in Mireia's sealed space should probably be cleaner than the air most urban dwellers are breathing right now. Hyundai, however, still worked with a sports medical center while filming the promo to ensure the safety of the athlete. Found via autoblog

When promoting something, companies want to create a strong connection between their products and the consumers. What better way to do that than through the use of humor? This 60-second spot for Splenda really made my day.

McDonald's always makes clever Halloween ads. This year is no exception, with DDB Finland rolling out this "Trick or Cheese" campaign that appeals to everyone. Now this is something good to eat. Thanks to Leslie, who has a master's degree in fast food.

Loving these digital posters from EyeHealth1st. Aimed at middle-aged people in Australia, the "Look Deeper" campaign was launched to reduce the alarming incidence of blindness and vision loss. It featured a hard hitting image of an "eyesberg" with the tagline "Eye disease. There's a lot you don't see." An initiative of MyHealth1st, EyeHealth1st's aim is to create better awareness around the significance of regular eye health checks and early detection. It is the largest online directory for optometrists in Australia with a mission to end preventable blindness. Kudos to Messy Design for their ground-breaking ideas!

Last year, this advertisement for Canada's University of Moncton went viral and generated a passionate debate over its appropriateness. Some said the recruitment ad was "pathetic" and "similar to a beer commercial", while others praised it for being "smart, sexy and fun." But aside from the controversy, the 30-second spot did wonders for the school. It boosted applications and just won an award for best higher ed recruitment video. Yes, sex even sells education. [h/t: Adweek ]

While I believe mother nature needs to be protected for the benefit of ourselves and future generations to come, I think this poster from ad agency TBWA Copenhagen is just absurd. You might feel better after clicking that "like" button, but in reality… you've done nothing more than press your finger.  [h/t: Ads of the World ]

Though by tradition a Roman Catholic newspaper, La Croix (English: The Cross) has in recent years become much more of a mainstream publication. To let people know that it's no longer a religious newspaper, La Croix commissioned ad agency BETC Paris to battle the pre-conceived notions about the French daily. Thanks for the tip, Roy.

Ad agency Leo Burnett Switzerland created these clever posters for Samsung to promote its NX Mini camera. We can see Albrecht Dürer, Frida Kahlo, and Vincent Van Gogh taking pictures of themselves, with the tagline For Self-Portraits. Not Selfies . Van Gogh's work can be seen in the background. Kahlo's plants are featured in her poster, and Dürer's prints are on a table near his window ledge. For those not familiar with the NX Mini, the device is one of the smallest mirrorless cameras on the market today, and one of the more affordable. Despite its size, the camera boasts a large, 3-inch tilting touchscreen TFT LCD display with a 320x480 HVGA resolution. It has a 20.5 megapixel 1-inch type BSI CMOS sensor and is capable of 6 frames per second continuous shooting. Of course it features both Wi-Fi and NFC technology for easy pairing and sharing with smartphones and tablets.   [h/t: The Inspiration Room ]

I have a special kind of hatred for insurance companies. They control the banking industry. They own the real estate. And when they catch a virus, stock markets fall. However, I find this new ad quite charming. The 90-second spot, titled Tiny Dancer , was made by London-based communications agency Adam & Eve/DDB for John Lewis' home insurance division. Bunny May looks adorable as she dances to Elton John's classic hit. In fact, she's so cute that you could forgive her for wrecking the house. Check out how the ad was made in the behind the scenes video . [h/t: Creativity Online ]

These illustrations were designed for Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine by Havas Worldwide Paris. I really like the computer generated images. They look like real sculptures. [h/t: Ads of the World ]

This is what you get when you combine 25,000 Post-it notes, 200 pounds of steel, 75 rolls of painter's tape, 1400 hours of labor, and a muffler.

I was looking at this new commercial for Hewlett-Packard's Sprout when I realized it's directed by the same guy who shot the 2009 film Where the Wild Things Are .     The 60-second ad, created by 180 LA and directed by Lance Acord, is a beautiful story of creativity lost and found. Early scenes show Jane as an imaginative child and teenager, but her artistry gets worn down as she tries to cope with the demands of adulthood. Her creative spark is reignited when she sees her daughter decorating a doll—and the two begin various tasks on Sprout.    For the unfamiliar, Sprout is an all-in-one PC with a touch-sensitive mat that acts as a second screen, and an overhead projector/camera that can scan 2D and 3D objects. You can even use a stylus to draw on the mat and move scanned images around.    It's truly innovative. The only thing that you could say is conventional is the desktop running on a fourth-generation Intel Core i7 processor, with 1 TB ...

When was the last time you bought a weird-shaped fruit or veggie? A disfigured eggplant, a gnarled carrot, a hideous orange, or a deformed apple? You probably have a hard time remembering because growers usually throw out any misshapen produce, since grocery stores only want flawless (or almost flawless) crops. If there are lumps, bruises, or other deformities, retailers are likely to reject them. To raise awareness against food waste, Marcel Paris introduced a brilliant ad campaign called the Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables . The agency created these posters for Intermarche, France's third largest supermarket chain, to inform people that though these foods might by ugly, they are as good as any others. [h/t: Design You Trust ]

In general, people don't like seeing ads, but sometimes, when companies and ad firms go out of their way to come up with creative, inspirational and clever ways to heighten awareness for their campaigns, ads can be pretty amazing.  Take, for example, these posters Y&R developed for Long Live New York . They're simple, yet brilliant, and they appeal to their target audience's emotions. They're now in NYC subways to educate commuters about the noble act of organ donation. [h/t: The Inspiration Room ]

As we all know, the number of certified librarians have dropped dramatically over the past years, and the Japanese government, specifically Yokohama, is doing something to bring them back in to schools as facilitators of knowledge and growth.     The Yokohama City Board of Education worked with a Dentsu Tokyo creative team for this brilliant campaign, which was launched earlier this year. Education is what is going to close the poverty gap and I believe that we need more ads like these.    "Pass on the joy of reading. We require Librarians." [h/t: Spoon & Tamago ]