Top Cat! Ben Stiller Headlines the Week's Best Ad

Our fave 5, featuring Stiller's Soda x Katz's Deli, Goodwipes, McDonald's and more

Here’s our roundup of the week’s Top 5—well, actually 6, as there’s a tie at the bottom…

Bestie: Ben Stiller Dressed as One of Broadway’s ‘Cats’ is a Must-See

Look who clawed his way to the top. This mostly ad-libbed promo for Ben’s soda brand and Katz’s Deli packs more biting humor in its 3-minute runtime than most sitcoms can scratch up in a whole season. Stiller as a silver-gray tabby skewers marketing tropes and leaves viewers hungry (and possibly thirsty) for more. Developed with M ss ng P eces. NY Nico co-stars, and he also directed. Read More

2. Goodwipes Spoofed Astra and AI, Butt Good, Using AI as the Key Driver

Sometimes, AI provides the best tools for razzing itself. And so it goes for Goodwipes and OK Future, which deliver a tech-generated goof on OpenAI’s much-maligned Astra launch. They also provide humorously hygienic commentary on our unfettered machine obsessions. Read More

3. ABC Promo for ‘Abbott Elementary’ Taps Into Nostalgia for ‘Schoolhouse Rock’

If we’ve learned anything through the years, it’s that 3’s a magic number, and Schoolhouse Rock—those Saturday morning edutainment interstitials from the ’70s—are timeless. Here, they provide a plucky primer on the latest season of Abbott Elementary. The cast gets even more animated than usual. Read More

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4. Columbia Sportswear Will Pay for Pictures of Your Naked Feet

No fetish here. Just brand-boosting toesies that happily wiggle in the wild for Columbia’s Peakfreak hiking shoes. Nice cuticles, though. Very nice. From Adam&Eve\TBWA London. Read More

5. TIE – With ‘World Menu Heist,’ McDonald’s Returns to the Scene of the Crime

Some hijackers target shipments of precious metals or electronics. Others steal Maple & Cheddar Chicken and Szechuan sauce en masse. To each their own. Leo U.K. doubles down on silly criminal activity in a campaign about bringing McD’s far-flung menu items to the British Isles. Read More

5. TIE – Let’s Buy a Plushie That Makes Piercing Data-Center Sounds!

So, data centers are loud and obnoxious. Who knew? Creative studio Basura and techno band Big Data engineered a not-so-soft sell featuring a fuzzy toy called “Bezzy.” It drones like a billion-dollar tech installation gone mad. Read More

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