The best print ads of the 2000s, as chosen by experts

The first decade of a new millennium saw the internet and social media change the way we consume and engage with brands forever. Although digital advertising increasingly became a part of daily life, print still held on strong. Ads leaned into slick and striking photography, bright and simple graphics, familiar faces and clever copywriting, leading to some of the best print ads of all time.

So, let’s take a look at what the industry experts picked as their favourite of the decade. For more print-spiration, check out the best logos of the 2010s and best adverts of the 2020s.

Lego – ‘Shadows’

“I love minimal design and the simplicity of this is really powerful in how it communicates its message. The ad shows just a small pile of colourful Lego bricks arranged in a basic shape but what makes it stand out is the shadow underneath,” London-based designer Laura Foley says of Lego’s 2006 ad campaign. “For me, it instantly shows how something so simple can become anything through imagination.”

“The ad has a clean background, which helps the bricks and the shadow stand out. There’s no clutter which keeps the focus on the idea,” Laura continues. “The colours of the bricks are bright and playful which fits perfectly with Lego’s identity. There’s barely any text, just the logo in the corner, letting the image tell the story. The design is well balanced in the layout, guiding your eyes from the bricks to the shadow and finally to the logo.”

Kim Mickenberg, partner of campaign design at creative agency VSA Partners agrees that the power of the campaign is in its uncluttered, text-free design and playful tone. “I love the strength and simplicity of the visual, and how it communicates so much, so clearly, with no words. Emotionally, it immediately transports you back to childhood – and if you're a parent like me, it makes you want to buy the toy to encourage imaginative play in your own kids.”

American Civil Liberties Union – ‘Manson’

“When DeVito/Verdi celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2001, Stuart Elliott of The New York Times characterised the New York-based agency as having ‘a brash, sassy creative approach typically described as smart aleck’. That chutzpah galvanised by a potent insight helped this copy-dense, but provocative ad for the American Civil Liberties Union break through with just a million dollar budget,” says Professor Nancy R Tag, former ad agency creative director and founding director of City College of New York’s master's in branding and integrated communications. “Agency co-founder Ellis Verdi said that the ad was originally presented as a black person on the left and a white person on the right. Adding the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Charles Manson as visuals makes the concept even more powerful.”

The award-winning PSA, which first ran in May 2000, was art directed by Greg Braun, creative direction from Sal DeVito with Joel Tractenberg partnering on copywriting. It aimed to highlight racial bias by police in stop and search rates.

In conversation with Greg recently, Nancy says he “acknowledges that some credit for the ad's power goes to the bravery of our client, the late Ira Glasser, executive director of the ACLU. Ira never shied away from the truth, in a way that I’m sure was inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. himself.”

BC Lung Cancer Association – ‘Info’

This next campaign for Vancouver-based charity BC Lung Cancer Association was created by TBWA Canada and published in September, 2008. With copywriting from Paul Little, it plays on the idea of small-print style text, used for the main copy of ad itself

“It is one of the best one-liner ads ever written. Period,” says Thierry Brunfaut, creative director and founding partner at Base Design. “It just says it all in a few words. Maximum impact. At the time, I was so excited about it that I sent an email to congratulate him.”

Apple – ‘Silhouette’

“The Apple iPod silhouettes print ad from 2003 really stands out. It’s a simple yet highly effective print ad,” Laura says. Featuring dark silhouettes of people dancing against bright, colourful backgrounds, the iPod remains the focus, and helped propel the product to become the must-have gadget at the time.

“The design gives off a fun, energetic vibe, capturing the feeling of freedom and movement. The use of bold, bright colours – neon green, orange and blue – creates a strong contrast with the black silhouettes, making them pop and grabbing people’s attention. Without much text, the visuals do the work of telling the story. The position of the logo makes the ad feel cohesive and organised, guiding the viewer’s eyes from the silhouettes to the iPod and then to the logo. Overall, the ad isn’t just selling a device, but an experience – a connection to music and freedom that the iPod brings.”

Dos Equis – ‘Most Interesting Man in the World’

“When customers like your ad so much they turn it into a meme that does your marketing for you, you know you’ve struck gold,” says Mike Perry, founder and creative director of New York-based creative agency Tavern, of this next campaign for Dos Equis beer, which launched in 2006 and featured actor Jonathan Goldsmith.

Created by Havas, known then as Euro RSCG Worldwide, and accompanied by several TV commercials, the steller copywriting helped the long-running campaign become hugely popular with meme-worthy lines such as ‘I don’t always drink beer, but when I do I prefer Dos Equis’ and ‘Stay thirsty, my friends’.

“The best creative ideas are iterative, you could come up with a million variations on the same concept and it wouldn’t get old,” Mike says.

“The iconic Dos Equis ‘Most Interesting Man in the World’ campaign was based on such a simple, fun idea that fans couldn’t stop making it their own – even to this day!”

Economist – ‘Lightbulb’

“This was a bold and uncompromising advertising campaign,” says designer Mathew John. “An original take on the lightbulb idea concept that has been used numerous times before, but yet this campaign was more original and stood out on the billboards with the element of interactivity. The bold use of colour, clean design and 3D stand out of the lightbulb made it much more noticeable than the average busy adverts of the time.”

The 2005 3D billboard ad, crafted by BBDO, used motion sensor technology to light up a giant light bulb as somebody walked past. An irresistibly shareable experience, the lightbulb billboard, symbolising “bright ideas”, was photographed and gained exposure across socials.

Diesel – ‘Nature: Love It While It Lasts’

“Back in the noughties, I loved the ads in magazines like i-D and The Face almost as much as the main editorials. One memorable favourite was this lavish, multi-page fold-out Diesel spread from 2004, featuring the tongue-in-cheek, existentialist line, ‘Nature. Love it while it lasts’,” says Leonie Cumiskey, business development manager at Reed Words. “The line itself may (sadly) be more relevant than ever, but the imagery couldn't be more different from the bland, sparse fashion ads I see flicking through magazines these days. Looking at it again, I adore its chaos, fun and maximalism. Unlike many of today’s formulaic zeitgeisty-celeb-against-a-white-wall print ads, this surreal scene has so much to look at. And, crucially, something to say.”

“The agency, KesselsKramer, worked with Diesel between 2000-2005, creating all manner of funny, weird, iconic ads that ultimately cemented Diesel as a noughties ‘It Brand’,” Leonie adds. “This one’s a personal favourite, but there’s plenty more brilliant work to rediscover from their partnership in the KesselsKramer archive – definitely take a look.”

Dove – ‘Unstick Your Style’

Another smart ad from the middle of the decade, created by Ogilvy & Mather Chicago, casts some familiar cartoon women to promote Dove Styling's natural-feel properties.

“This was an excellent concept at the time to celebrate women's individual beauty using well known female cartoon characters such as Marge Simpson, Wilma Flintstone, Jane Jetson and Scooby Doo-star Velma Dinkley to let down there hair down and try some new hair styling that we would be unfamiliar seeing them in,” says Mathew.

“It’s a clever way to encourage the audience to try new styles with their hair using Dove products rather than using glamorous real life celebrities. It made them stand out in a crowded beauty market.”

Nokia – 'An Eye For...'

“The Nokia 7250 print ad from 2003 really stands out to me for its style. It’s a bold and visually-striking campaign built around the idea of vision,” says Laura. “The focus on the eye is super clever as it connects directly to the phone’s built-in camera, which was a big innovation at the time.”

“The ad design is sleek and modern with good photography and clean white space that keeps everything balanced and neat. The eyes are colourful and expressive too, with makeup that adds a fashion and editorial vibe,” she continues. “The crop of the image also allows some space for the title, for example ‘an eye for beauty’, to be placed nicely beside the phone. Each phone is colour matched to the eye’s theme which is also really nice visually. The Nokia logo and tagline are placed neatly not taking attention away from the visuals.”

Lifebuoy soap – 'You eat what you touch'

“This advertising campaign made me feel a little uncomfortable, but at the same time was hard-hitting and a clever concept to make you think about cleaning your hands more before every meal and touching any food to directly connect with the product Lifebuoy were trying to sell,” says Mathew of the 2008 ad which aims to stress the brand’s message of hand-washing hygiene.

“It’s a great example of thought-provoking marketing, which stands out much more than regular soap adverts.”