It's a big thumbs up from W+K's Freddie Powell and Helen Foulder at the news that our Cravendale 'Cats with Thumbs' spot was voted number one best TV ad of 2011 by viewers of ITV, the UK's biggest commercial TV channel. ITV's top 20 ads of the year were featured on TV a couple of nights ago in a show called Ad of the Year. It has to be admitted that Freddie and Helen, who were interviewed for the show as representatives of the Cravendale team, do look slightly sheepish about being made to appear on prime time TV wearing giant furry cat gauntlets. But for the rest of us that moment above is TELLY GOLD!

Here's the extract from the show featuring the top of the poppermost Cravendale spot.

Some people find the Cravendale ad a bit scary, but I have to say I personally don't find the prospect of world domination by polydactyl cats nearly as unnerving as the luminous teeth of the man below. I couldn't pay any attention to what he was saying in the clip because I was distracted by his fluorescent chompers.

Also in the top twenty ads of the year were two more Wieden + Kennedy spots. At number 13, from W+K Portland, Old Spice's 'The man your man could smell like'. Apparently, according to the celebrity lady interviewed below, this causes 'an actual physical reaction when you watch it'. Mind-boggling.

And at number 11, from W+K Amsterdam, Heineken's 'The entrance'. Fantastic suggestion from the actress interviewed that a follow-up ad should be set in Coronation Street's Rover's Return pub.

Well done to all involved in making these ads and big congrats to our clients. And many thanks for your votes, ITV viewers.

Adweek magazine has named Wieden + Kennedy’s ‘Cats with thumbs’ commercial for Cravendale one of its ‘top ten of 2011’.

Adweek magazine has named our 'Cats with thumbs' commercial for Cravendale one of its 'top ten of 2011'. Here's what they say:

Why do cats stare when you're pouring milk? The answer seems obvious. They're cats. They love milk. But this irresistible spot by Wieden + Kennedy for British dairy Cravendale wondered if the cute little kitties might not have a more nefarious agenda. After a lifetime of waiting on their owner's generosity, perhaps they want to take matters into their own paws. Maybe they're ready to band together and raid your milk supply. They would need just one thing, and this spot humorously gives it to them—opposable thumbs. Suddenly, the polydactyl felines are seen picking up balls, filing their nails, flipping through books, and doing a little needlepoint. But they're just biding their time and honing their sinister plot. Sure enough, soon they're snapping their fingers, West Side Story style, and preparing to gang up on the selfish, cereal-eating human and steal his milk. Cats are always big in ads, but this spot chased off all rivals this year. And we may get a sequel. As one of the spot's feline stars wrote on Twitter this fall: "Know this: you have not heard the last from me."

Chuffed with this news, Bertrum Thumbcat plots the next stage of world domination:

And here is the TV ad again, in all its 8th place glory.