Standout Ads: Sleight of Hand Beats Grotesquery in Banner Creative

Wiggling insurance ads, flab-in-your-face diet pitches, and other ham-handed attempts to commandeer our attention online using banner ad space show no signs of letting up. However there are many great ads out there, and we industry reporters should be talking more about them.

To my mind some of the most impactful banners in recent memory use subtlety, not grotesquery, to confound our expectations of IAB standard units and make a point. Take the latest in Apple’s series of groundbreaking roadblock experiences on NYTimes.com. In the screen caps below, you’ll see what may be the most understated floating ad execution in history. It’s blink-and-you’ll-miss-it creative innovation at its best.

Seen a great ad? Post a comment here or send me an email and I may blog about it.