Did you hear that?

A commercial must also create a need or a drive for something and in doing so, be compelling.  Whether it is through humor, annoying/catchy jingles, empathy, etc, it must capture attention.

Personally, I would say that a good commercial is half visual and half audio.  I am no expert in commercial making, but I would argue that a good commercial should work both where it is seen and alone on audio.  A person should be able to pick up on the message whether they are watching it or whether they are off in another room.

Commercials back in the 90s were awesome, but then again so were most things back then.  I remember ads for Coca-Cola vs Pepsi, Pringles and Folders coffee.  They all had catchy jingles like "The best part of waking up..." and "Once you pop the fun don't stop"

Kit-Kat was another catchy jingle.  I like how the commercial for it today has taken a new spin on the original jingle.  This commercial works very well as an audio ad.
Why?

1. We all recognize and know the tune
2. We can hear the breaking of the candy and the crinkle of the wrapper
3. We can hear the crunch of the candy being eaten
4. We hear the satisfaction in the persons voice as they enjoy a Kit-Kat

One of my favorite ads is the Darth Vader VW car commercial.  This ad works better visually, but I still think there are some points to note--like the use of pop culture.  We all know the few notes that make up the epic Darth Vader march so we are immediately drawn in.  However, based solely on audio this ad could be about the films, that is until we hear the roar of the car motor and the announcer.

Another favorite ad of mine is for Pur Water filters.  Magic Bananas! This commercial always makes me laugh.  The visual element is clean and simple and so is the dialogue.  Also it is nice to see the visuals of clicking the Pur filter to your faucet but this element is also achieved thought the natural clicking sounds we hear underneath the audio.  Even with all of that said I still think it is a strong audio commercial.

This particular Orbit gum commercial I felt worked well as and audio ad.  on first hearing a visual would be nice because it is a little confusing until you hear the Orbit gum lady say her "Dirty Mouth? Clean it Up!" line.  But the commercial is about cleaning up dirty mouths and I think that this commercial emphasizes cleaning up your mouth through the use of the "bad words." This commercial is also very funny and people will remember the catch phrase and next time they are in the check out aisle at the supermarket they might be inclined to buy some gum. 

Finally, Coca-Cola's "Put the Lime in the Coke, You Nut" ad works well as stand alone audio because of the annoyingly catchy song.  The commercial succeeds in getting you to buy a Coke with lime because you start to sing it then your friends sing it then other people start and soon everyone is singing the song and the want spreads and then everyone is drinking a Coke.