I don’t generally pay a lot of attention to alcohol advertising, as much of it tends to simply lean towards the hot party/fast cars/pretty people demographic and can sometimes be pretty basic. But I was impressed with this ad campaign I discovered for Jack Daniel’s Whiskey, which veers away from the usual noisy ads and utilizes some terrific voice overs to set a mood and atmosphere quite nicely.

The first thing I think you notice about these ads is the stunning animation, in crisp black-and-white. There’s no doubt that these ads have a distinct visual flair. But right after you notice how gorgeous they are, that voice comes in and instantly steals your attention. With a gravelly timbre, the actor behind the VO manages to convey a sense of toughness and manliness, but also remain conversational and have a slightly breathy tone at the same time. It’s a really great blend of tough and accessible.

The first ad (top) talks about the man named Jack Daniel, and the product he named after himself, while the second ad focuses on the mystery of the “No. 7″ that adorns every bottle of the whiskey. Again, this terrific voice comes in and discusses the question of No. 7 with just the right balance of inquisitiveness and knowledge. I don’t know about you, but this voice actor’s delivery evokes an image of a bearded cowboy sitting in a fancy leather armchair in his library, with a cowboy hat and a smoking jacket on, talking about good ol’ Jack Daniel.

Whether that’s what the producers were going for or not is beyond me, but I can tell you one thing; anytime you can evoke that strong of an image in someone’s mind with just a voice over, that’s an exceptional voice over.

June 11th marks the start of the 2010 World Cup, an event celebrated the world over, so you know what that means, right? Voice overs! Or at least, commercials for the World Cup featuring some pretty cool voice overs.

In the first video above, we learn all about the number 10. This is a great commercial that has an enlivened, inspirational feel to it. Notice how, even with the uplifting music in the background, the voice talent for this commercial elevates the piece with his bright, clean, and clear voice. He manages to convey with a sense of “twinkle in the eye,” just using his voice and delivery. Right from the first line where the actor says, “The number ten,” he automatically has your attention. I suspect that even if the background music was removed, this would still be an uplifting piece, thanks to the VO. Pretty cool.

Yes, that is U2’s Bono providing the voice over for the second commercial. It’s an extremely fitting piace for the singer to take on, too; he’s well known for his activism for global causes, and especially his work in helping get aid to Africa, which is where the 2010 World Cup is taking place. I think he does a pretty good job, too, especially for someone who’s not a trained voice actor. It’s interesting, though, how what starts out as a pretty straightforward voice over takes on a lyrical, almost rap-like delivery by the end. Clearly, this is intentional as the piece builds in intensity as it goes and finishes with the roar of the crowd. Even when he’s not singing, Bono has an extremely recognizable voice, making this quite an effective commercial, and a neat use of voice over.

This final commercial takes on a slightly darker tone in the beginning, but in the end is still inspirational and uplifting, like both of the previous spots. The voice over is subtle but effective, too. Unlike the Bono piece that builds in intensity, this one holds a sense of reverence and respect throughout. It’s a nice style choice: the music does the uplifting part, and the voice over simply tells a story, without needing to be bombastic or over the top.

As a side note (this will come in handy for a future game of Trivial Pursuit, I’m sure), it’s interesting that U2 is clearly involved on some level with these ads. Not only does Bono provide one of the voice overs, but all three spots use U2 songs as their powerful, inspirational music. The first commercial features “Out of Control,” the second spot uses “Magnificent,” and the final ad features “Where the Streets Have No Name.”

I’m impressed with the commercials ESPN has produced for the 2010 World Cup and their terrific use of voice over. I’m sure there will be a lot more great examples of great VO’s during the World Cup itself, where we’re sure to see a ton of new ads cropping up, much like we did during The Olympics. I can’t wait to see what’s next!

Target has just launched a new advertising campaign called “Life’s a Moving Target.” These are pretty nice ads, following people throughout their life’s journeys at different stages. So far, there are two ads that I’ve seen, and both of them feature voice over as a dominant aspect of the ad.

In the first spot, we get to hear and see the story of a couple and how they met and fell in love, eventually getting married and having a daughter. It’s a well-written ad that brings the storyline of the piece full circle, but it’s the delivery by the voice actor that really sells it all. (As usual, there’s no way of knowing if the actor on screen is the voice actor, but — also as usual — I’d wager that it’s not.)

Her delivery has a nice sense of flirty fun, but also a deeper sense of romance and love. It straddles the line nicely between being cute and being heartfelt, and there’s a smile in her voice that never once disappears. You can bet she was smiling in the vocal booth when she was recording this piece, too.

The second spot focuses on a young girl named Mary, and it’s narrated by a woman who I think is maybe meant to be her mother, although she could also just be the narrator of this girl’s story. Like the ad above, this spot features a fun, lighthearted voice over, but it definitely downplays the softer, breathier side of things that’s associated with romance for a bright cheerfulness that celebrates the joys of childhood. What I especially like about the excellent delivery here is how the voice actor has to go through all seven days of the week and make each day (and the color associated with it) sound just a little bit different, which is no small feat.

I’m impressed with these new Target ads, and I think they can go a lot of places with this campaign. I expect we’ll continue to see some great voice over performances as it continues.

In today’s Voice Overs of the World, I found some great examples of what I like to call “Matter of Fact” Humor. What that means is that each of the commercials below are funny, clever, well-written ads that require a certain style of delivery. Although these are funny commercials, none of the voice overs go for over-the-top humor. Instead, they take a subtle, more stoic approach. The reads aren’t flat or emotionless, but the voice talents involve add just little touches of humor here and there to really sell a dry sense of comedy. Read on to see what I mean.

The first ad from NBCNewYork.com is a perfect example of Matter of Fact humor. The voice over is slightly announcer-ish, but not in that “yelling loudly at you” way; it’s more just the deep, male voice that’s not dissimilar to what you hear in movie trailers and network TV promos.

But listen for the little bits of dry humor in the commercial: “Liz also considers herself a foodie with a highly advanced palate.” There’s no overt sarcasm in that line, rather just a hint of it, which makes it much more effective than blatantly making fun of the character in this spot.

Old Spice has been making funny commercials for the past few years. If you haven’t seen the “I’m Riding A Horse” ad yet, you’re really missing out. But as that ad doesn’t feature a voice over, I found a few other great Old Spice ads instead with some terrific humor in them that come from the VOs. In the commercial above, you get the same two lines of dialogue repeated four times in 20 seconds.

What I like about this ad is how you can hear the progression in the voice actor’s deliveries. While the first two reads are pretty similar, the third delivery adopts a more casual, lighter tone. Then the fourth read brings in a much more noticeable breathy tone. Each read gets across a nice, manly tone, but the subtle variations really help keep the ad from getting monotonous, and keep the humor intact.

The next Old Spice ad features a really great script about a man who is nearly perfect; of course, I’m sure it’s because he wears Old Spice. I love this voice over because it takes on a gritty, breathy sense of gravitas, as if this man is burdened with all of these great qualities. “Is handsomeness a burden your face has to live with… every day?” The timing of the pause in that line is fantastic, too.

Again, the VO doesn’t go for overt humor, even though the dialogue is clearly over the top, so you believe it — or at least believe that the voice actor believes it — when he says, “A triumphantly fresh scent that smells like the world’s most successful mountain.”

Finally, we have two great ads from Muscle Milk. These ads give us quick mini-portraits of two men who use Muscle Milk — which of course makes them cool — even if everything else about them is ridiculous. These ads are probably the ultimate example of Matter of Fact humor. The deliveries are pretty deadpan, with just little hints of emphasis here and there. For example, Chet “has been ejected from several co-ed softball games.”

These are solidly read deliveries that have a nice cadence and good timing; listen to the perfectly placed pause in the ad above where the voice actor says, “And that boat? It’s stolen.” These are voice overs that are simple, yet extremely effective.

What do you think? Are these ads funnier because of the voice overs or would they be funny regardless?

I’ve come across two ads recently that I wanted to spotlight here in Voice Overs of the World, and both of them feature, deep, male voices. “Ah-ha,” you might say, “he’s finally been forced to write about the announcer-style delivery!” Well, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, these two ads feature voice overs that are about as far away from an announcer-style delivery as you can get. Read on, and you’ll see what I mean.

The first ad above is — oddly enough — for Tetra Pak packaging, although that really doesn’t come into play until the end of the commercial. This spot is actually based on the true story of a park ranger that was struck by lightning seven times over some 30-odd years and survived each time.

What I love about the voice over is how the deep, southern-flavored, rumbly voice behind it seems to be having so much fun with the piece. Think about it; a large part of the VO for this commercial is counting the lightning strikes, one through seven. This voice actor not only manages to make each one sound different, but he imbues each number that he counts off (and the comments surrounding them) with a touch of humor. It’s not easy to make numbers sound interesting, but he does it. This is a voice (and a delivery) filled with character, and it works incredibly well for this spot.

The second commercial is for GE Technologies (as you can see by the GE logo that they’ve so lovingly adorned the video player with), and I have to say, I absolutely love the voice over in this commercial. The entire ad is beautiful (ironically, that’s also the official name of this commercial), with the music, the imagery, the script, and the voice over coming together perfectly to create a real and tangible mood.

The voice actor has a deep male voice, but he uses his breathy tone perfectly, to bring about a sense of love and nostalgia. He’s got a slightly Paul Newman/Clint Eastwood-esque quality to his voice, but for me, the minute he says, “I’ve seen beautiful things,” I was hooked. And while the commercial is certainly a much more serious piece than the spot above, it never feels downbeat or depressing, thanks to a pitch perfect delivery; he sounds like he’s just on the verge of crying, but in a good way, not a sad way.  This voice actor has a voice that can be described as craggy or gravelly and he’s got just the slightest hint of a drawl to it, but I couldn’t imagine a voice that would fit this piece more perfectly.

What do you think? Know of any ads like these that you like?