UNICEF "Toys" Up-and-coming Stillking director Jan Kalvoda helmed this UNICEF PSA, bucking the tendency toward dark humor and just aiming for, well, dark. Cute wind-up toys, robots, dolls and stuffed animals creep from their homes and into barren streets, gathering for a demo against HIV/AIDS. A slogan appears in children's letter magnets: "Every minute a toy loses its owner to AIDS." What could've been a cutesy ad ultimately lives up to the grimness of its message through a mixture of subtle visual effects and live action that makes each successive toy appear increasingly clumsy and desperate. The soundtrack emphasizes the shift in mood, as the upbeat chimes that open the ad devolve into dull, electronic static.

TV OKTO "Metal in her Head" In North America, television programming dedicated exclusively to metal music is a rare treat reserved for households affording upwards of 743 channels. But in Prague, at least one such show buys advertising. MarkBBDO and Bistro Films' Mods are behind this sepia-toned spot, in which a frazzled female traveler is strip-searched in a South American customs office. A guard wielding a metal detector discovers she's got "metal in her head" - or more specifically, death metal. A good example of Czech black humor, this ad is a little unnerving to watch. As the woman is put in an increasingly vulnerable situation, we begin to imagine the worst. But the tables turn thanks to an abrupt, punchy ending.

Greenpeace "Sperms" A favorite of local creatives and one of the few Czech TV ads from last year to hit the European awards circuit, "Sperms" parodies the famous final segment of Woody Allen's Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask) in which men in sperm costumes prepare to fertilize an egg. But instead of robust, young guys, this sad sack of unseemly semen appears unkempt, uncoordinated, blind and hooked to IV drips. The tagline: "Chemicals cause damage to your sperm." Conceived by Czech agency Thamesdown and directed by Simply Sirena's Kryötof Michal, the message in this wordless PSA isn't eclipsed by the satire and hits home thanks to utterly depressing casting.