Sean Mulholland of Guy & Co picks his (non-dancing) Desert Island Ads

The ads I love have always had a sharp edge to them. Someone took the hit, someone or something was the punchline – and that’s why you remembered them. They were cheeky, brutal, brilliant.

Fast-forward to now and it feels like everyone’s dancing. Literally. Smiling, spinning, pointing at things in time with a beat. It’s safe. It’s pleasant. It’s…fine. But when was the last time you quoted a TikTok dance ad down the pub? And I get it, ‘Dance is a global language’, as I imagine the sell-in is for all these ads goes.

But what happened to standing out?

For me, the magic was in the risk. The wink that said, “we know this might get us in trouble, but it’ll make you laugh.” That’s the stuff that sticks. That’s the work I miss.

Here’s a little love letter to the ads that probably wouldn’t make it past legal today, but absolutely deserve a rewatch.

Desert Island Ads

IRN BRU – Butcher

Growing up in Scotland, it’s no surprise the Irn-Bru ads left their mark. They were gloriously unfiltered. A mum belting out a tune about her transition (“even though I used to be a man”) way before it was a thing people talked about. A dencherless grandad making his grandson gag. Or the legendary Electric Lady – a granny ramraiding a shop window on her mobility scooter for a can of Bru. Each one delivered a perfect rug pull: outrageous, cheeky, unforgettable.

That’s the point of comedy in advertising, isn’t it? You trade shock, wit or mischief in return for someone’s attention. Irn-Bru never played it safe, and because of that, people still talk about the spots decades later.

My favourite? The Butcher. It’s comedy with a wicked grin – literally slicing into the absurd. Ads like that didn’t just sell a drink; they sold an attitude. And they did it by daring to have real teeth.

John Smiths – Wardrobe Monster

The. No Nonsense campaign is a nightmare to pick a favourite from. Some spots were riskier than others (still not sure how ‘Babies’ slipped past the ASA), but Peter Kay was always a joy – delivering those dry, unexpected punchlines we’d already come to love from his Phoenix Nights characters.

What ties the campaign together, though, is the observational comedy. You laugh because it’s true. You laugh because you can relate. You like the brand because they understand you. Why worry about monsters, when it’s the robbers you really need to watch out for? So when brands dance about the streets, there’s a massive disconnect. Because when was the last time you danced after using soap? Or after drinking juice? Or wiping your bum? Exactly.

Skittles – Touch The Rainbow

Continuing the accidental theme of ads that are impossibly hard to choose between, this one comes from Skittles’ brilliantly absurd “X the Rainbow” campaign. For years, I wondered how on earth they managed to sell it in. How do you convince a client to buy concepts this off-the-wall, then commit to making them stranger and stranger for over a decade?

‘Tagline by Clio’ podcast filled in the gaps: They said the brand’s ‘magical DNA’, a love of surrealism and the 90s rise of ‘oddvertising’ created the perfect storm.

But why this ad, above all the others? The casting is flawless – that voice sticks in your head long after. The writing is razor sharp, there isn’t a single line you’d cut. And then there’s the craft – a real desk built entirely out of Skittles. No CGI. No AI. Just meticulous dedication to landing the perfect gag.

Xbox – Life is Short

I’ll admit it, I’m more of a PlayStation guy. But a brilliant ad is a brilliant ad.

What I love about this one is that the first time you see it, you have no idea where it’s headed. We’ve seen plenty of “journey through time” ads before, and when they’re done well, they can be genuinely moving. (Think John Lewis ‘Generations.’) But usually, they end with a brand reminding you how long they’ve been “by your side.”

This one does something smarter. It delivers a poignant truth: life’s too short to waste. Is it comedy? Dunno. But I laughed, especially when the final line “Play More” lands with perfect timing.

Mountain Dew – Puppy Monkey Baby

There are a million ads I could have put here, but I love the simple stupidity of this. Sometimes comedy doesn’t need to be clever. Sometimes it’s just silly. Sometimes it’s unexplainable – it just makes you laugh. This COULD HAVE BEEN a really laboured script detailing all the practical reasons this mixture is great. But that would have been dull and forgettable. So why not turn it into a daft wee song and make people WANT to try it for themselves?

Well, that was a laugh, and look, comedy isn’t right for every brief. But if the fallback is another bloody dance, maybe it’s worth the risk of a laugh.

Sean Mulholland is creative director of Guy & Co.