Absolut "One night" (2017) 1:03 (UK)

Acclaimed cinematographer and Academy Award winner Emmanuel Lubezki (showcases a dazzling spectacle of the history of Earth and our place in it in one giant millennia spanning film that begins with a bang and ends with....two people going out for a night on the town. Juliette Lewis reads the anthem while light goes to dark, cells divide, humans evolves from hunter gatherers to innovators, trying to encapsulate humanity's greatest achievements with a broad stroke: The Wright Brothers to Elvis. Tesla to Nina Simone. The Ten Commandments to Studio 54. The Berlin wall coming down to gay marriage etc:

It all started one night. A night that felt like it had been night for an eternity. When right out of the darkness? An idea. The mother of all ideas. And I swear the bigger this thing got? The more it started taking on a life of its own. It created new ideas. Ideas so bold and brilliant they pushed an entire planet forward. And now here we are, thirty-two trillion nights later. You can take it from here.

"Create a better tomorrow, tonight" is a great tagline and one could do a lot with it. Maybe they will. But giving me a history recap that begins with the big bang (I'm pretty sure humans had nothing to do with that) and ends with a lady going out on the town to get her drink on is not exactly riveting. Or telling me anything new. This spot is painted with such a broad stroke, its unfortunately one of those spots that looks cool but is ultimately forgettable. More importantly it has absolutely zero to do with Absolut. This could be for just about any brand. In fact, Apple more or less explored the exact same thing last year.

Compare this to the widely awarded and also technically amazing Evolution/Noitlove spot for Guinness which begins with a bloke sipping a pint and has him reverse through history until he's a fish like thing coming out of a bog, tasting the mud and spitting it out. Why? Because Guinness is worth waiting for. Always is, and always has been, since the beginning of time.

Client: Absolut
Anna Malmhake - CEO
Craig Johnson - VP Global Marketing
Gaia Gilardini - Global Communications Director
Sina Neubrandt - Global Marketing Manager
Oscar Danielsson - Global Brand Manager
Fredrik Thorsen - Global Head of Digital
Andrew Rozas - Global PR and Social Media
Agency: BBH
Executive Creative Director: Ian Heartfield
Creative Team: Simon Cenamor & Raymond Chan
Producer: Victoria Keenan
Assistant Producer: Zaf Choudhury
Business Lead: Kate Roberts
Account Manager: David White
Account Executive: Janki Shah
Strategy Director: Melanie Arrow
Strategist: Raphael Bittner
Production: Park Pictures
Director: Emmanuel ‘Chivo’ Lubezki
MD: Stephen Brierley
Park Pictures Executive Producer Jackie Kelman Bisbee
Executive Producer (LA): Caroline Kousidonis
Executive Producer (London): Sophie Hubble
Producer: Nick Goldsmith
Post Production: Framestore
Creative Director: Andy Rowan Robinson
VFX Producer: Charles Howell
2D: Raul Ortego, Sebastien Boulange, Gigi NG, Karch Coon, Nick Tanner
3D: Phil Robinson, Charlotte Bae, Nate Diehl, Georgios Cherouvim, Mohamed
Echkouna
Design: Callum McKeveny
Editing House: Whitehouse Post
Editor: Russell Icke
Assistant Editor: Greg Hayes & Joe D'Ovidio
Producer: Antonia Porter
Colour: Company 3 NYC
Colourist: Tom Poole
Producer: Alex Lubrano
Music and Sound: Soundtree
Creative Director: Peter Raeburn
Music Supervisor: Jay James
Sound Designer: Henning Knoepfel
Music Editor: Luke Fabia