Nothing delights us more than a piece of great writing in an unexpected place. Case in point, this obituary that went viral a few weeks ago. Written by the daughter of a recently deceased Indiana man, it’s heartwarmingly full of specific, hilarious details that illustrate more about its subject than most obits do. I imagine her father is smiling down with pride.

In the category of unexpected writing creativity, allow me to present a new example: the cease and desist letter. Netflix recently got a bunch of well-deserved praise for a very creative and professionally written cease and desist letter that they sent to a bar in Chicago who had turned their establishment into an unauthorized Stranger Things themed restaurant. Here’s to the Netflix lawyers, who help us continue to prove that stellar writing can solve the world’s problems.

SOURCE: AdFreak

Music stirs emotion and this passionate print piece from writer Charlie Shames captures those feelings in beautiful prose. (Writers, send us your favorite ads. We want to post them! ) This ad is part of a collection of posters he did for the opening of the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. It elicits the soul and poetry of music and the value it brings to all of us. You can feel his love in every sentence.

The adventuresome lives of seemingly mundane objects highlight this recent campaign for the VW SUV. Lovely little stories like a paper clip’s wayfaring through Europe provide a reminder that even some ubiquitous items have seen more of the world than us. Damn those braggadocious paper clips.

Source: Ads of the World

Agency: DDB Berlin

Great brands are built over time, with each piece of creative serving as one element of a larger whole. A brand that’s been doing consistent and incredible writing-dominant work for the last few years is YETI Coolers. From print ads to manifestos to the web and more, the work has helped elevate a simple product like a cooler to premium brand status. It illustrates the incredible lengths that great writing can take you.

Agency/Source: McGarrah Jessee

When you carry your concept all the way through to even tiny details like an error page, you’ve achieved true master status. Another reason why The Onion is the best.

The Midwest is home to great lakes, flat terrain, nice folks, and people who say folks. But it’s the concept of “The Other Midwest” envisioned by this charming print campaign for Upland Brewing that’s really intriguing. In this imagined land, does beer flow through the aqueducts? Do bottles remain cold forever? Maybe when you dream tonight, you’ll find out.

Source: Ads of the World

Agency: Young & Laramore

If we took stock of everything we read in a day, it would likely be a dismal recollection. Daily chatter like tweets, texts, picture captions and comments consume too much of our brain space. A literary doctor is needed to prescribe two doses of Hemingway in order to flush the social media toxins from our system. This print campaign for a New Zealand bookstore nails our current dilemma and the vital need for better reading material.

Source: Ads of the World

Agency: FCB, Auckland, New Zealand

I love sports and I love long copy, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that I loved this ad from the Seattle Mariners commemorating Ken Griffey Jr.’s induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. And what’s even cooler is that a buddy of mine, creative director/writer Andrew Gall, wrote it. This ad deserves its own bronze bust too.

Source: Adweek

Agency: Copacino & Fujikado

The best campaigns originate from the creation of a powerful singular voice as the solution to a brand conundrum. For example, how do you elevate a plain, ole nothing-special-about-it beer? The answer: by creating the concept of The High Life as the embodiment of manliness. This was the launching pad for one of the best campaigns in the last few decades and the precursor to a million “embrace your manhood” copycat ads by others.

When you read this amazingly well written manifesto, you’ll realize how they made a ton of great spots within this campaign, many directed by the legendary Errol Morris. With a great starting point and strong positioning, incredible ideas come bursting out.

Source: http://www.errolmorris.com/commercials/miller_manifesto.pdf

Agency: W&K, Portland