Those who enjoy film director Wes Anderson's visual style, witty dialouge, and sepia-soaked color schemes -- well, they just get it. Some people, actually a lot of people, don't. There's very little middle ground on the subject, which is why he might not be a natural choice to direct commercials for national ad campaigns.
But that hasn't prevented companies from paying him to produce spots completely soaked in all aspects of his signature style. There are plenty out there, but we gathered a few of our favorites for the five best Wes Anderson-directed commercials to date.
See also: - Five Favorite Wes Anderson Movie Moments - Five Must-See Movies in (And Around) Phoenix This February
5. Sony, "Made of Imagination"
2012
Titled "Made of Imagination," the commercial makes us want to hug our phones and put them carefully on the table so as not to disturb the tiny robots inside. The adorable stop-motion work features one boy's vision of how Sony's Xperia smartphone works. Anderson worked with animation studio Laika to make the eight-year-old's dream come to life.
4. Stella Artois
2010
A Wes Anderson/Roman Coppola mash up would have most cult film fans swooning and this beer commercial really does deliver on the 1960s French vibe and clean, symmetrical sets of Anderson's work. The 60-second spot, like the tagline at the end, is a thing of artistic beauty.
3. Hyundai, "Modern Life"
2012
This is just one of the two spots directed by Anderson that aired during the Oscars last year. They're clearly aimed at film-going audiences and Anderson fans will eat them up. Both are great, but we prefer this one, "Modern Life." It's short but totally Wes with his signature camera movements (always keep on eye on the background) and controlled chaos.
The other ad, "Talk to My Car," is worth a look -- but didn't make our list.
2. AT&T 2007
Fans of Anderson's work won't be able to watch this ad without thinking back on the great shot of the submarine in Life Aquatic. This is one of six-part set of AT&T commercials all of which expose the director's love for the floating background, single-shot technique. We particularly like this one for a single reason: "Hi, Klaus."
The other ads feature a reporter and salesman.
1. American Express, "My Life, My Card" 2006
From the "My Life, My Card," campaign this ad scores with us not only for being truly entertaining but also for featuring Anderson and Jason Schwartzman. Haters will say this isn't as good as the Martin Scorsese-directed spot for the same campaign which starred Robert DeNiro but clearly they just don't understand the brilliance of Anderson's work.
We'd argue that this is by far Anderson's best commercial and possibly the best commercial ever...except for the Taco Bell ad from the Super Bowl, cause old people that love to party? Untouchable.
