TEDvertising: TED Promotes Ads Worth Spreading

TED, the nonprofit devoted to ‘Ideas Worth Spreading’ and a harbinger of intelligent and inspiring discourse, is adding an element of surprise to its ongoing call for Ads Worth Spreading.

Five agencies that enter their 2011 campaigns in TED's AWS call for entries will be randomly selected for a visit from TED and a one-on-one with each agency “to spark deeper conversations between TED and the global advertising and marketing community.” Better be quick — the deadline for submissions is Dec. 31st.

The Ads Worth Spreading project aims “to reverse the trend of online ads being aggressively forced on users. We want to nurture ads so good you choose to watch.” Previous AWS winners include Chrysler’s Super Bowl love letter to the city of Detroit and Intel’s "The Chase," a demo of a microprocessor disguised as a short film.

“We’re very much interested in pushing advertising forward,” commented Paul Kemp-Robertson, Co Founder / Editorial Director at Contagious Communications in London and a TED judge, to the New York Times. The Chrysler ad, featuring Eminem driving a Chrysler through the streets of Detroit “had a resonance way beyond the Super Bowl. It was like ‘O.K., we’re back.’ This is the sprit of America, the muscle.”  

The deadline to submit entries is December 31st via TED's AWS YouTube channel, while agency visits will begin in the first six months of 2012. For more information, visit the YouTube blog.