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The Clio AwardsBest ad of the year? An Italian spot for washing machines.

By Seth Stevenson Posted Monday, May 14, 2007, at 12:31 PM ET

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Some of the more interesting advertising happening now falls into the "Content & Contact" category. (I'm still not clear on what that name means, but it seems to encompass anything that doesn't fit into the other categories.) Last year, Burger King made its own Xbox video games, with the iconic King as a central character. More than 3 million games were sold at $3.99 apiece—which is astonishing, given that people were actually paying to watch an advertisement. Another winner in this category was a campaign for Australia's Victoria Bitter beer. Thousands of plastic figurines of famous cricketer David Boon (called "Boony") were distributed to beer drinkers. The figurines would respond to signals from television sets, aired during cricket matches, by uttering catchphrases that corresponded to the cricket action on-screen. I am quite certain a similar promotion will soon be attempted in America, most likely for next year's Super Bowl. (If so, can we please have a Ricky Williams figurine that says, "I've been very, very blessed to have found yoga"? And then later says, "Pass the bong"?)

Content & Contact is rapidly gaining prestige, but for now the glamour category is still television. The best-in-show winner of this year's grand Clio was an Italian ad for the Ariston Aqualtis washing machine. In what looks to be an underwater nature special, we see fish that turn out to be socks, jellyfish that are actually handkerchiefs, and an eel that's a scarf. The tag line: "Big Inside," as the camera pulls back to show us the washing machine that contains this imaginary world. It's a gorgeous ad—I love the tiny details, like the way out-turned pockets on a pair of pants become pectoral fins. Perhaps the cheekiest bit is turning a pair of brassiere cups into the two halves of a clamshell.

Other winners included: 1) the Sony Bravia "Paint" ad (I've mentioned this one before) in which explosions of paint splatter an apartment complex. 2) An absurdist campaign for Skittles candy, in which a man can control his long beard like a prehensile tail. (I've previously explained why I'm not a huge fan of Skittles' wacky-for-wacky's-sake advertising.) And 3) Dove's "Evolution" Web ad, in which we're let in on the behind-the-scenes effort to turn a regular woman into an unattainable fashion ideal. (Though I've had problems with other Dove commercials, I think this one is great—both attention-grabbing and thought-provoking.)

But my favorite ad of all the finalists didn't win the grand prize, or even a gold. Toyota's "Humanity" spot, from Japan, settled for silver. It shows a car in which every function is performed by humans: A pair of arms serves as a seatbelt; a hand emerging from the dashboard is a cupholder; the airbags are two gentlemen with balloons poised at their lips; instead of a headlight, there's a guy with a flashlight curled up inside the front bumper.

I found this ad witty, charming, and delightfully executed. It's distinctively Japanese, in its adorable cuteness and also its eagerness to meld man and machine. It even has a clear brand message: The "human touch" goes into every part of a Toyota. It was a crowd favorite, drawing the loudest applause of the evening. And were I on the jury, I would have voted it 2007's best.

Disclosure: The Clios paid for Stevenson's accommodations.