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April was far from the cruellest month for ads, particularly from UK agencies.

After a slow start to the year there was a rush of good to great ads in April: JWT's Rembrandt recreation by its Amsterdam office, Martini from AMV BBDO, Maynards from Wieden+Kennedy London, iD from CHI and Fosters from adam&eveDDB to mention a few very good ones.

But there were four stand-outs.

Coca-Cola scored nine for this print ad, part of its new 'Taste The Feeling' campaign from a gaggle of agencies (no idea which one produced this.). But it's the only sexy Coke ad I've seen, so deserves its moment in the spotlight. ( note: we featured it in April, might well have surfaced earlier).

Adam&eveDDB specialises in 'big ideas' (you know, the ones that media agencies keep telling us don't matter any more) and it produced the goods for Halifax by disinterring Hanna-Barbera's Top Cat. It's also brilliant at persuading/helping its clients get behind such big investments with digital and what we used to call point of sale. Another worthy nine.

Just below - at 8.5 - came another A&E headline grabber: 100 year-old model Bo Gilbert for Harvey Nichols, hymning Vogue's 100th anniversary.

On the same score we had BETC's latest effort for Canal+, this time for its To Go service.

A mischievous addition to a great campaign from a great agency.

No doubt, though, which was the agency of the month: adam&eveDDB, which also excelled for Save The Children.

PS I see that AMV BBDO swept the board at last week's Creative Circle awards, winning 33 gongs including creative agency of the year and 'gold of golds' for its Christmas 'Laptop' ad for Currys PC World, part of a series featuring Jeff Goldblum.

Can't find that, here's another one.

The Mill was production company of the year.

All the winners are here (if you've a day or so to spare while the page loads).

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Best ads of 2016: Coke and adam&eve's Top Cat for Halifax lead the way in April

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April was far from the cruellest month for ads, particularly from UK agencies.

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Take a walk on the wild side.

It's hard to imagine any other modern first-person shooter series being able to make a 12,000 year trip back in time and arrive there with its identity still intact, but Far Cry Primal has made it work. The series' now familiar one-man-versus-a-savage-frontier shtick has survived the transition admirably and Primal remains packed with many of the same great gameplay loops that have come to define the franchise, just with a primitive twist.

Primal's prehistoric, low-tech version of the Far Cry experience feels surprisingly authentic thanks to the game's completely bespoke language (the simple dialogue is conveyed entirely with subtitles), its large, convincing environment, and its great character design. It's overflowing with brutal and satisfying close-quarters combat, and the new ability to tame wild beasts also adds a welcome additional layer of tactical choice to assaults on the enemy. It's undermined, however, by a startlingly basic plot, some disappointingly uncharismatic villains, and often bland mission objectives. The result is a lengthy and competent game with plenty to discover and conquer, but one that unfortunately contains far fewer memorable moments than its forebears.

Far Cry Primal's 10,000 BCE Stone Age setting takes us back into human prehistory, casting us as a hunter called Takkar, who's part of a fractured tribe known as the Wenja. We also know he has a beard because, well, you can see it in his little icon on the in-game map screen. Unfortunately, that's more or less all we ever learn about Takkar and, as such, he isn't an especially engaging or interesting protagonist.

Of course, one of Far Cry's real fortes is its ability (particularly in more recent instalments) to make up for its ho-hum leads with some truly scene-stealing antagonists, like Far Cry 4's sadistic Pagan Min or, better still, Far Cry 3's frighteningly unpredictable Vaas. Regrettably Primal falls flat here too; neither of Primal's main villains are a patch on a character like Vaas. A considerable letdown for a series that's carved out a reputation for fascinating and nuanced bad guys.

When Three Tribes Go to War

Takkar's goal is to help establish the Wenja as the dominant tribe in the game's large world, Oros, which is a mixture of rolling plains, lush forests, and inhospitable ice. To achieve victory over two separate enemy tribes (the Udam and the Izila) Takkar must work alongside several allies to gain the abilities he needs to defeat the leader of each tribe. Unfortunately this elevator pitch is also the entire plot synopsis, because that's pretty much all there is to Primal. Ubisoft has made a move away from Far Cry's traditionally more linear storytelling but at a hefty cost.

Primal simply hums along sedately until culminating in a pair of standard-issue boss fights

It took me around 20 hours to get through Primal's main campaign and just some of the available side quests, and the story does retain Far Cry's now-signature supernatural flourishes, but it lacks any real twists, intrigue, rollicking set-pieces, drama, or depth. Primal simply hums along sedately until culminating in a pair of standard-issue boss fights.

Supporting characters feel largely absent beyond their handful of associated missions and have very little to do with Takkar outside of cutscenes. It's a shame we don't see much of them over the game's duration because I quite like the secondary cast; from the one-eyed guy who expresses his brotherly respect via swift headbutts, to the one-armed bloke who I suspect peed on me just so he could choose my nickname. Even the clearly traumatised woman with the ear fetish grew on me. They'll happily join your village and mooch living quarters built from your hard-earned booty, but don't expect to see them out in the wild helping you when things get dire.

The detailed character design and costumes on these allies is uniformly excellent, though, and they're covered in cracking facepaint and nasty scars and adorned with various furs, bones, and sticks. Their performances are good too in the context of Primal's credible, ancient feel. Well, all except for the jarringly odd Evel Knievel caveman who appears to have strolled directly off the set of a secret sequel to Encino Man. I know he's a nod to Far Cry regular Hurk, and I appreciate the comic relief, but the thick American accent may be jumping the sabre-toothed shark.

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Take a walk on the wild side. It's hard to imagine any other modern first-person shooter series being able to make a 12,000 year trip back in time and arrive there with its identity still intact, but Far Cry Primal has made it work.

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For the second month in a row, Supercell's "Clash of Clans" video game took the top two spots on YouTube's ad leaderboard, with its "Traps" spot at No. 1 earning 18.6 million views, followed by "A Special Map" ad with 11 million views.

January's top ads were dominated by video games and politicians. "Clash of Clans," "Boom Beach," "Pokémon," "Candy Crush" and Drone Racing League's "The Sport of the Future" all ranked, along with spots from Bernie Sanders, Ted Cruz and a two-minute anti-Trump spot from Our Principles PAC.

The top two "Clash of Clans" ads feature actor Christoph Waltz, who also starred in three of the four "Clash of Clans" ads to make December's top 10 list.

In addition to its "Clash of Clans" spots, Supercell's "Boom Beach" made it into the list at No. 4, with 3.4 million views, earning the video game company a combined 33 million views for the month.

Released January 25, Pokémon's "#Pokemon20" was the only Super Bowl ad to make the list. In six days' time, the spot generated more than 10 million views to rank No. 3.

Purina's BuzzFeed "Dear Kitten" video was the only non-game, non-political ad to make last month's ad leaderboard.
1. Clash of Clans: Traps (18.6M views) 2. Clash of Clans: A Special Map (11M views) 3. Pokémon: #Pokemon20 Super Bowl Commercial (10.6M views) 4. Boom Beach: Dr. T's Song (3.4M views) 5. Bernie Sanders: America (2.8M views) 6. Drone Racing League: The Sport of the Future (1.4M views) 7. Candy Crush: Meet the real Jelly Queen (1.3M views) 8. Purina/BuzzFeed Video: Dear Kitten Beginnings (825K views) 9. Ted Cruz: Invasion (624K views) 10. Our Principles PAC: The Trump Tapes, Vol. 1 (587K views)
According to YouTube, this is the first time ever that political ads have ranked on the US ads leaderboard. January's top 10 ads won a combined 50 million views, accounting for nine million minutes of watch time.

About The Author

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Top 10 YouTube Ads In January: "Clash Of Clans" Takes The Lead 2nd Month In A Row - Marketing Land

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For the second month in a row, Supercell's "Clash of Clans" video game took the top two spots on YouTube's ad leaderboard, with its "Traps" spot at No. 1 earning 18.6 million views, followed by "A Special Map" ad with 11 million views. January's top ads were dominated by video games and politicians.

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AT&T Girl VS Wendy 's Girl Sexy Picture Compilation

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AT&T Commercials Compilation Milana Vayntrub AT&T

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Top 10 Best Milana Vayntrub AT&T Commercials Ever (Funny Ads Till 2016)

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Top 10 Best Milana Vayntrub AT&T Commercials Ever (Funny Ads Till 2016) - AT&T TV Commercial, 'Sleeping Baby' - AT&T TV Commercial, 'Signs' - AT&T TV Commercial, 'Professional Women' - AT&T TV Commercial, 'Hand Me Down' - AT&T Commercials, 'Closer' - AT&T Family Pricing Commercials, 'Gordon Ramsay' - AT&T + Plenti Commercials, 'Couch Potato' - AT&T Rollover Data Commercials, 'Negotiate' Featuring Mark Cuban - AT&T Rollover Data Commercials, 'Negotiate' Featuring Mark Cuban - AT&T Commercials, 'Special Offer' Featuring James Van Der Beek

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Budweiser and Bud Light won't be the only Anheuser-Busch beers taking center stage at this year's Super Bowl. The company has decided to add its craft-like offering, Shock Top, to the Big Game for the first time as well as bring Michelob Ultra back for the first time since 2010.

A-B InBev, which has advertised during the Super Bowl for the last 28 years, purchased a total of three minutes of commercial air time for the Feb. 7 game. The company has also nabbed the A1 spot with airtime right after kickoff, though it is unclear which brand will take the premium placement.

"A powerful Super Bowl ad can set the tone for a brand's performance throughout the following year and beyond," Jorn Socquet, vice president of U.S. marketing for A-B InBev, said in a statement. "We've made significant investments to make sure this year's spots will connect with fans in new and unexpected ways."

The company declined to provide specific details about the spots.

This will be Wieden + Kennedy's first Super Bowl for Bud Light, which serves as the official beer sponsor of the NFL.

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Shock Top and Michelob Ultra Will Share the Super Bowl Spotlight With Bud and Bud Light

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Budweiser and Bud Light won't be the only Anheuser-Busch beers taking center stage at this year's Super Bowl. The company has decided to add its craft-like offering, Shock Top, to the Big Game for the first time as well as bring Michelob Ultra back for the first time since 2010.