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This year has seen some big advertisers turning back to animation. And they don't come much bigger than Coca-Cola, who have been reaching out through two of their European agencies - Wieden + Kennedy in Amsterdam, and Mother, London - to touch the kid in each of us.
What made animation hot again was probably last year's Cannes Grand Prix
winner, Grrr for Honda. And of course Wallace & Gromit have done their bit as well, winning Oscars by appealing to Mum and Dad every bit as much as to their sprogs.
For creatives, the big advantage is the relatively low cost. The
wonderful world Coke created in my Top Animated Film of 2006, Happiness Factory, would be impossible as live action with anything other than a feature film budget.
Their Grand Theft Auto spoof, my second favourite, is a brilliant nod
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towards guys who barely watch any TV but who do go online and do play games. Animation means Coke can say, "we understand where you're at" in a way that isn't embarrassing.
Cool also is the Vauxhall Corsa campaign out of London agency DLKW. My
gran's car has suddenly been made altogether more hip thanks to animated glove puppets called, rather horribly, the CMONS.
And what better way to attract the attention of kids than Knife City, the Metropolitan Police's pretend demo of a console game which warns of the dangers of carrying knives.
After years of hitting us with a blunt instrument, Camelot discovered what
it is to be liked when they made A Big Win, number three in our Top Ten.
Animation forces you to draw your characters clearly so they become funnier
and, curiously, more real. Once you've seen the Domestos commercial, you will always see John Malkovitch as a germ. 
FIRST POSTED DECEMBER 27, 2006
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