Ted 2012

TED isn't a big fan of the traditional 30-second spot. For its Ads Worth Spreading contest, the organization continually chooses un-ad-like advertisements that are much lengthier than your typical TV commercial—and often never appear on TV at all. This was true last year with the first batch of winners, and is true again this year—check out the 10 winners for 2011/12 below. We've written about most of them here at Adweek. (The Canal+ and Chipotle spots were on our list of the 10 best commercials of 2011.) "We sought out ads that were driven by ideas," says TED curator Chris Anderson of this year's winners. "At TED, we've seen the power of imagination and innovation. We want to reward companies that have invested in longer-form, beautifully crafted campaigns that value human attention and intelligence, and take the time to tell a thought-provoking story."