Top 10 Surreal Ads

"1971, and a pair of chimpanzees dressed as removal men carry a piano down some stairs. 1974, and a bunch of cackling Martians are sitting in a spaceship discussing mashed potato. 1993, and pianos fall out of the desert sky while a fat man painted gold strews marbles in front of a speeding car. 1999, the crests of waves transform into gigantic white horses. Move over Dali, the admen are in town." 

Robert Saville.

From an article in Campaign which asks the question:

Is using surrealism in ads the work of lazy creatives or a genuinely effective way of getting a message across?

10.Orangina 'animal lust' by FFL 

Paris, 2008

Anthropomorphised creatures straddling spouting bottles of Orangina, from the dark wit of the Paris-based duo Fred Raillard and Farid Mokart.

9. Cheestrings ‘Mr Strings’ by Fallon, 2009

One of the more recent ads out of the surrealist stables, the ominous presence of 'Mr Strings' makes for bizarre viewing

8.Tango ‘orange man’ by HHCL, 1992

A prime example of the humorous power of surrealism, this HHCL ad became a classic of its time

7.Starburst ‘bus stop’ by TBWA\Chiat\Day New York, 2007 

Proving itself to be full of surrealist ideas, this spot from TBWA\Chiat\Day featured a very lively singing elf with a passion for berries and cream

6.Guinness ‘surfer’ by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, 1999

You could not get two more incongrous items than a fish and a bicycle - perfect fodder for a surrealist spot

5.Cadbury Dairy Milk ‘gorilla’ by Fallon, 2007

Proving surrealism was the order of the day for awards juries, this ad, featuring the now famous drumming gorilla, scooped all the top gongs in 2008

4. Skittles ‘touch’ by TBWA\Chiat\Day New York, 2007

The surreal tale of Tim, who turned everything he touched to Skittles, went on to win gold at Cannes

3. Guinness ‘fish on a bike’ by Ogilvy & Mather, 1997

A combination of tanned surfers and CGI technology made for an award-winning, visually confounding ad

2.Stella Artois ‘bench’ by Lowe London, 2005

Three men suffer surreal fates when they give in to the temptation of tasting Stella's forbidden fruit

1.Benson & Hedges ‘iguana’ by CDP, 1978

A helicopter, an iguana - all unexplained but an ingenious way of avoiding restrictions from the golden age of CDP

Surrealism in advertising is not a recent trend it's been roaming around adland since the 1930s.

Companies such as Shell and Ford were already referencing surrealist art in their poster campaigns, with Ford's V8 ad carrying a Rene Magritte-esque eye, and Shell's 1938 "zero" poster featuring similarly inspired imagery.

There's limitless possibilities with surrealist imagery - anything from bright pink lip sofas to lobster phones...which seems to appeal to a creatives' pursuit of original ideas, if kind of selfish.

Here's adlands point of view:

"It allows creatives, who don't want to do the same as everyone else, to do whatever they want." Matt Koen, Fallon Creative behind 'Mr Strings'

"The thing with surrealism is that, perhaps more than any other creative technique, you've got to get it right. Otherwise, rather than inspiring, captivating or amusing your audience, you're simply leaving them confused, bored or indignant," Paul Brazier, the executive creative director at Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO

I like the idea of referencing a world that rejects logic and reasoning, allowing creatives to have free range to indulge their imagination, but some say this is often at the expense of the idea's efficacy making surrealism an option for lazy creatives.

There seems to be a love/hate relationship with surrealism and adland, which makes it a good topic to debate about. Saying this, I did come across Robert Saville's more balanced view:

"Surrealism in advertising is nothing new, but this shouldn't surprise anyone, should it? British culture has always been in love with the absurd. From Alice In Wonderland to The Goon Show, to Monty Python to The Mighty Boosh; the ridiculous and the surreal has formed the bedrock of our sense of humour for hundreds of years. Our Germanic cousins laugh at fart gags, the French love slapstick but show a Brit two grown men hitting each other with oversized fish and we'll be rolling in the aisles. Using surrealism in advertising isn't some clever, modern trick or trend, it's just writing that plays to the uniquely British love of the absurd. Perhaps it's because absurdity is so fundamental to our culture that it took the French to intellectualise it and give it a name. To the British, "surrealism" is frequently just another word for "funny".

Not sure about that one, surrealism = funny. I think there's more to it than that, but I do agree with a fascination with the absurd.