GE "Samurai" > Animators extraordinaire Three Legged Legs hit the mark once again with this short, part of GE's Imagination Theater VOD series. The BBDO-created initiative illustrates the power of using one's imagination to get out of sticky situations; thus the Legs offer up this fable of a cocky samurai who has fallen out of favor with the Emperor. The only way to spare his life is to light a lantern hanging high in a stone room on a mountaintop, and "not a soul" can help him. We won't reveal the ending; suffice to say it's suitably imaginative.

Agency: BBDO, New York
Chief Creative Officers: David Lubars, Bill Bruce
Exec. Creative Directors: Don Schneider, Greg Hahn
Copywriter/Art Director: Greg Hahn
Exec. Producer: Peter Feldman
Exec. Music Producer: Loren Parkins
Director: Three Legged Legs

Producer: Lisa Houck
Production Company: Green Dot Films
Original Music: Nick Faber, Faber Music

Vaseline "Sea" > Under the guidance of BBH, skin care staple Vaseline is utilizing top-notch visual directors to teach us how to "respect our skin". With this gorgeously-shot :60, Ivan Zacharias takes the concept that we are inextricably connected to our skin to its fullest realization, using hundreds of naked actors to act as a giant 'skinscape'. Placing the actors in a variety of settings (including a rather chilly shoot in Iceland - see Spotopsy, pg. 16), with The Mill replicating them to the point of thousands, this spot beautifully puts to rest the complaint that there's too much skin in advertising.

Agency: Bartle Bogle Hegarty, New York
Executive Creative Director: Kevin Roddy
Group Creative Director: Kash Sree
Creative Director: Craig Smith
Art Director: Jon Randazzo, Andre Massis
Copywriter: Jordan Kramer, Amir Farhang
Senior Producer: Julian Katz
Production Company: Smuggler/Stink
Director: Ivan Zacharias
DP: Jan Velicky
EPs: Brian Carmody, Patrick Milling Smith
Producer: Nick Landon
Editor: Filip Malasek @ Robota
Post-Production: The Mill, London

Honda "Museum" > Yes, many of us have seen the YouTube footage of Asimo, Honda's walking robot, stumbling up a staircase at a product demonstration, but with the cute contraption's performance in this endearing spot, we can assume he (it?) was just having a bad day. In the Peter Thwaites-helmed clip, Asimo trots through the Berlin Science Museum, looking at assorted exhibits. Part of a campaign to launch the new CR-V auto, the spot functions more as a reminder of the company's aim to advance technology by way of the human touch.

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, London
CDs: Tony Davidson, Kim Papworth
Creative Team: Chris Groom, Stuart
Harkness, Michael Russoff
Agency Producer: Julia Methold
Production Company: Gorgeous
Director: Peter Thwaites
Producer: Alicia Bernard
Lighting Camerman: Stuart Graham
Sound Studio: Wave Recording Studios
Sound Engineer: Jack Sedgwick
Post Producer: Sally Heath, Absolute
Offline Editor: Neil Smith, Work Post
Grade: The Mill, London

Comcast "Menu" > In a new seven-spot campaign for Comcast's high speed Internet service, everyone's favorite animatronic turtles, Bill and Karolyn Slowsky, crawl out of the house and continue to tout the virtues of slower-than-molasses DSL. In "Menu", Bill agonizes over what to eat at the local diner, while the waiter... waits. It's hard to say how much more mileage is left in the joke (turtles are slow, DSL is slow...); still, unlike other ad experiments in anthropomorphization, the Slowsky puppets are believable pitch-creatures and the copy is chuckle-worthy.

Agency: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners
CDs: Jamie Barrett, Mark Wenneker
ACD/Senior Art Director: Stephen Goldblatt
Copywriter: Jean Weisman
Agency Executive Producer: Tanya LeSieur
Production Company: The Directors Bureau
Director: Mike Maguire
Executive Producer: Melissa Culligan
Editorial: Hutch Co Technologies
Editors: Jim Hutchins, Paal Rui
Effects: Brickyard VFX/Santa Monica

Graphics: National Television
Music: Stimmung
Puppets: Stan Winston Studio

Samaritans "Doodle" > This engaging cinema PSA for UK helpline Samaritans is part of an entire campaign encompassing print, viral, TV and outdoor ads based on the idea that setting pen to paper can sometimes reveal the innermost thoughts we're too afraid to share. The doodling begins with the cryptic phrase "Game Over". The central character clutches, then releases a broken heart and traverses through different drawn environments, eventually drowning in a sea of ink. Incredibly intricate animation and a somber, reflective music track combine for a truly affecting effort.

Agency: Lunar BBDO, London
Creative Directors: Ben Kay & Daryl Corps
Art Directors: Daryl Corps, Oli Kellett, Alex Holder
Copywriters: Ben Kay, Oli Kellett, Alex Holder
Production Company: Therapy
Director: Christian Bevilacqua
Producer: Jess McKillop
Editor: Christian Bevilacqua
Animators: Christian Bevilacqua, Chris Ratliffe, Martin Stacey