Features
Johnny Dantonio, executive creative director, Moon Rabbit
October 18, 2021
3:50 pm

6 campaigns with stellar storytelling and animation

Edwards Lifesciences: Edwards Storks

Craft, craft, craft. When executed beautifully, it’s so lovely to see, particularly because techniques such as Filmic cinematography and depth of field were always reserved for animated movies and would be too tough (or expensive) to pull off on the small screen. The animation here elevates a touching, albeit familiar, story, making even the coldest of audiences feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Genea: Where Babies Come From

Let’s get provocative, babies. Sex is a complicated subject, and non-hetero sex is even more complicated when trying to explain where babies come from if your parents aren’t your chromosome-defined mom and dad. The fast-paced and purposefully exhausting — yet extremely entertaining — animation serves as a phenomenal analogy for all the ways humans have sex and ultimately create families.

Humane Society International: Save Ralph

Delivering a message with gravitas is too often done through expected channels and somber tones. Not just finding the right voice, but using it in an original way to say something emphatically, is much more difficult than it sounds. The Humane Society’s casting of Taika Waititi allowed the brand to seriously discuss the cruelties of animal testing without having to turn to an exasperating ballad soundtrack or heartbreaking or gruesome footage of the abused.

Insmed: Trapped

Behold the beauty of stop-motion animation. Insmed took real patient soundbites and created visually compelling interpretations of them to help educate people about nontuberculous mycobacterial lung disease (NTM), a rare condition. The visual feel of the film, combined with a whimsical soundtrack and memorable moments, convey the truth of being "trapped" by the disease with incredible impact.

Bodyform/Libresse: Womb Stories

A brand that has always been brave continued to push into taboo areas, telling stories on miscarriage, IVF struggles and endometriosis, among other touchy topics. In a world where a lot of these truths go unspoken, the emotional burden on women can be huge; the campaign depicts this reality with great empathy.

Viagra Connect: Love Story

With a new take on a familiar soundtrack and a poignant and relatable narrative around masculinity and intimacy in relationships in the modern world, this is a nicely crafted animation that shares a host of important stories.

1 of 6
Features

6 campaigns with stellar storytelling and animation

Moon Rabbit's Johnny Dantonio selects six entertaining and impactful animated ad campaigns.

Johnny Dantonio, executive creative director, Moon Rabbit
October 18, 2021
3:50 pm

Slideshow

Edwards Lifesciences: Edwards Storks

Craft, craft, craft. When executed beautifully, it’s so lovely to see, particularly because techniques such as Filmic cinematography and depth of field were always reserved for animated movies and would be too tough (or expensive) to pull off on the small screen. The animation here elevates a touching, albeit familiar, story, making even the coldest of audiences feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Genea: Where Babies Come From

Let’s get provocative, babies. Sex is a complicated subject, and non-hetero sex is even more complicated when trying to explain where babies come from if your parents aren’t your chromosome-defined mom and dad. The fast-paced and purposefully exhausting — yet extremely entertaining — animation serves as a phenomenal analogy for all the ways humans have sex and ultimately create families.

Humane Society International: Save Ralph

Delivering a message with gravitas is too often done through expected channels and somber tones. Not just finding the right voice, but using it in an original way to say something emphatically, is much more difficult than it sounds. The Humane Society’s casting of Taika Waititi allowed the brand to seriously discuss the cruelties of animal testing without having to turn to an exasperating ballad soundtrack or heartbreaking or gruesome footage of the abused.

Insmed: Trapped

Behold the beauty of stop-motion animation. Insmed took real patient soundbites and created visually compelling interpretations of them to help educate people about nontuberculous mycobacterial lung disease (NTM), a rare condition. The visual feel of the film, combined with a whimsical soundtrack and memorable moments, convey the truth of being "trapped" by the disease with incredible impact.

Bodyform/Libresse: Womb Stories

A brand that has always been brave continued to push into taboo areas, telling stories on miscarriage, IVF struggles and endometriosis, among other touchy topics. In a world where a lot of these truths go unspoken, the emotional burden on women can be huge; the campaign depicts this reality with great empathy.

Viagra Connect: Love Story

With a new take on a familiar soundtrack and a poignant and relatable narrative around masculinity and intimacy in relationships in the modern world, this is a nicely crafted animation that shares a host of important stories.

1 of 6

“The show must go on!” they say. But what happens if everyone in the show is at risk of contracting a deadly virus? Well, you animate it. With productions slowed if not entirely stopped due to COVID-19, it’s no surprise that we’ve seen an influx of animated executions over the past 18 months. The marriage of innovative, advanced animation with strong storytelling techniques has created some of the most entertaining and impactful campaigns that we’ve seen in recent memory.

  • From Our Partners