A couple of beauties

Unrelated projects in my mighty media centre brought me into contact with two almost-forgotten classics from the same director. Hell, with the hundreds of ads I see every week, it’s easy to forget the jewels that were once plucked from long-decayed dung heaps.
It’s not unknown for agencies to get carried away to the point where an outstanding piece of work overwhelms the advertised brand. I’ll probably get slaughtered for saying this, but I think Sony Bravia "Balls" and Honda’s "Hate Something" are such examples.
My carefully-selected panel of ad numpties thought the former ad was for Hewlett-Packard and the latter for cleaner engines (but couldn’t remember the brand or association with diesel).
Here are two examples where the mix is just right, being creative and effective.

Michel Gondry’s 1997 inspirational cinema ad for Smirnoff. This ultra-cool ad pioneered the bullet-time technique seen in The Matrix.

(“Smarienberg”; Agency: Lowe)

One of several gems made by Gondry for Levi’s, this one’s from 1995.

(“Drugstore”; Agency: BBH)