As far as CG spots for salsa go, this one directed by Nicholas Weigel at Laika offers some impressive art direction. An in-depth interview with Weigel and production credits can be found at Motionographer. For a more immersive version of the ad, watch it on Vimeo where it takes over the screen.

(Thanks, Mike Johnson)

Ambitious new spot for Washington State Lottery. A fine example of PES doing what he does best. This is the one-minute director’s cut; a thirty-second version is airing on TV right now.

This spot promoting the BBC’s Winter Olympics coverage is one of the finest examples I’ve seen of an illustrative style applied to computer animation. The atmospheric Inuit-flavored promo was directed by Marc Craste (Jojo in the Stars, Varmints) at Studio AKA. Co-designer was Jon Klassen, who posted a little bit about the design process on his blog.

A bigger and cleaner version of the spot can be viewed here.

(via Motionographer)

As long as we are being XXX rated today, here’s an ad promoting safe sex by animator Yoann Lemoine. It’s cleverly conceived, funny and definitely NSFW:

Here’s a much safer piece by Lemoine, a beautiful spot for France’s TiJi children’s cable channel:

(Thanks, Carlo Guillot)

Sean Pecknold (aka Grandchildren) crafted this stylish and funny stop-mo spot for BBC Knowledge.

Credits
Narrator: Richard E. Grant
Producer: Aaron Ball
Production Company: Grandchildren
Animators: Britta Johnson, Sean Pecknold
Sets and Creatures: Matt Lifson, Britta Johnson, Sean Pecknold
Rotoscoping: Stefan Moore
Painter: Matt Lifson
Effects DP: Michael Ragen
Editorial and Compositing: Grandchildren
Colorist: Sam Atkinson, Lightpress
Sound Design and Mix: Justin Braegelmann

Agency: Three Drunk Monkeys
Executive Creative Director: Justin Drape, Scott Nowell
Creative Director: Noah Regan
Copywriter: Damian Fitzgerald
Art Director: Matt Heck
Agency Producers: John Ruggiero/ Thea Carone
Content Director: Dan Beaumont
Content Manager: Brad Firth

(Thanks, William Skaleski)

…because I always think of car insurance when I’m watching a Disney feature.

(Thanks, Jon Reeves)

Dave Way directed this commercial, Light of Mine, another beauty from New Zealand animation collective Watermark - the same gang who produced the beautiful Greg Johnson I Got Candy video we mentioned a few weeks ago.

(Thanks, Dave Follett)