Most folks are lapping up this Heinz Classics Soup spot from London ad agency AMV BBDO and director Jeff Labbe. Frankly, I'm not stirred. "I Love Winter" depicts an oh-so-average English gal who, despite suffering various cold-weather indignities, adores the chilly season because she can thaw out with a bowl of piping-hot tomato soup. The commercial is extremely well made, but it's also mawkishly manipulative and lacks fresh ingredients (and by that, I mean ideas). Despite the solid craftsmanship and commendable attention to detail (the editing's particularly sharp), we're just being spoon-fed a tired tale of soup as comfort food. The visuals of the soup itself—silky, almost sensual; it's just poured into that bowl—are predictably silly. The "whimsical" soundtrack, which vaguely sounds like someone's cranking a jack-in-the-box, is the unappetizing skin on top. Look, pipes freeze and burst, heating bills soar, influenza strikes, and my mom's giving me ugly socks again for Christmas. Winter does suck. Soup won't change that. No can do.
 |  |