The Music Videos That Influenced Ad Creatives

Music videos have long been a launchpad for some of the world’s most celebrated directors — much like advertising. Both demand the same alchemy: telling a story with precision, flair, and distinctive visual impact in just a short space of time.

Across decades, artists and filmmakers have pushed the form into ever bolder territory. Think Fatboy Slim, Daft Punk, Childish Gambino — moments where their videos didn’t just complement tracks, they eclipsed them. Careers have been forged on that kind of creative audacity, from Michel Gondry and Spike Jonze to Melina Matsoukas, Fleur Fortuné, Dave Meyers, and David Fincher.

Now another contender is emerging. Gener8ion – Storm, starring Yung Lean, has exploded across global feeds, amassing nearly six million YouTube views within a few weeks. It’s the kind of work that reminds you why the music video remains one of culture’s most potent creative stages.

Director Romain Gavras’s near eight‑minute, tightly choreographed film unfolds without a trace of AI — a deliberate creative choice that makes its impact even more striking. Set in 2034 at an all‑boys boarding school, it opens on a haunting tableau: pupils lying in star formations across an assembly hall floor. The heavy doors creak open, footsteps echo like a prison guard’s approach, and Yung Lean enters — the only boy without a blazer — smoking as he steps through the bodies and into an extreme close‑up. Behind him, the boys rise as the track kicks in.

What follows is a stark portrait of institutional life, cutting between scenes of discipline, monotony and simmering rebellion for more than four minutes. Then comes the moment that has set the internet alight: the school photo. Rows of boys stand rigid in uniform, staring dead ahead. Lean breaks the frame, walking backwards — still smoking — to take his place among them. The group suddenly erupts into an impossibly tight, hypnotic wave of movement, a choreography so precise and uncanny it almost defies explanation.

The imagery has gripped audiences worldwide, a reminder of how pure visual storytelling can still stop culture in its tracks.

Its release has also prompted senior creatives across advertising to revisit the music videos that shaped them — the ones that shifted their taste, their craft, or their sense of what moving image could be. Here are the films they say left the deepest impression.

Franki Goodwin, chief creative officer, Saatchi & Saatchi – ‘Young Thug’ by Wycliff Jean

Directed by Ryan Staake, it was featured in the New Creators Showcase in 2017, and I thought of it immediately. I remember thinking at the time, “I’m not sure anyone will ever make anything that good again” – I loved it that much.

I have no idea if it’s a true story, and honestly, I don’t care. I guess it particularly appeals to me as it’s a story about the creative process. Great, funny things can come out of adversity (or even the idea of adversity), especially with talent that’s prepared to laugh at itself. Then there’s the word ‘juxtaposition’, rendered in 3D silver type. Come on.

Menno Kluin, global chief creative officer, Iris – ‘Star Guitar’ by The Chemical Brothers

Once you see the visuals combined with the music it enhances the experience and it becomes the only way to experience the track. And once I go back in I want to spend time with them and listen to the track over and over, completely forgetting all the deadlines ahead of me. Launch dates. Forgotten.

These all influence my work in ways that idea that Craft + Emotion resonates here and in the best ads. Have a clear idea and POV, craft it the way it’s intended to be and make me feel something.  

Get lost in the technological wonder and genius of it.

Mark Elwood, chief creative officer, Leo UK – ‘Voodoo In My Blood’ by Massive Attack, Young Fathers

Voodoo in My Blood is my favourite music video of all time. Inspired by the banned 1999 horror film; ‘Possession’ - Ringan Ledwidge’s direction, Rosamund Pike’s performance (who knew?), the sheer control of it. It captures something visceral: that pressure of something inside trying to break out and being forced back in.

What pulled me into GENER8ION – Storm was a painful familiarity. Boys trying to find their place in, or break out of, a hierarchy they don’t yet understand. It took me straight back to an all-boys school in the 80s: casual cruelty, bravado, smoking, getting stoned. Vulnerability buried under noise, humour, aggression. Similar feelings. Different uniform.

Aidan McClure, co-founder and chief creative officer, Wonderhood Studios – ‘Better Energy’ by Moones

It’s so wrong and a completely unusable idea for a brand it makes it inspiring.

Sometimes thinking about the wrong answer helps you come up with the right one! The lead singer is a creative I hired when working at the BBC.  I first saw this when looking at his book. I thought it was very funny.

Dan Watts, chief creative officer, Pablo – ‘Living Doll’ by Cliff Richard and The Young Ones

Ok so this is a random one. 'Living Doll' was a Comic Relief single that reached number one back in 1986.

It had a real effect on me as a very small child when it came on the TV. I actually became obsessed, drawing the anarchic punk Vyvyan multiple times and hanging the results up in various rooms across the house.

This "music video" did the things that should light up in your brain when you're making creative work:

It was naughty and slightly scary. It was disruptive (my mum told me off for watching it). It was surprising, the clean cut Cliff Richard meets absolute chaos and anarchy. It made me properly laugh - the "anyone know where the toilets are?" line in particular - come on, I was five!

Ok, it’s not up there with the likes of Glazer or Gondry, and it's certainly not a conceptual bit of D&AD winning art, but I remember it, and that's what the best creative work is meant to do isn’t it?

Mark Whelan, chairman and chief creative officer Havas Village London - 'Weapon of Choice' for Fat Boy Slim

It's 2001, just when we thought Christopher Walken couldn't be any more iconic, this dropped. Turns out he can dance too. A self-choreographed flight of fancy footwork in a deserted LA hotel. Glorious. This was another reminder that we all needed to be more Walken. 

Jez Tribe, creative director, AMV BBDO - 'Let Forever Be' for The Chemical Brothers

What’s your favourite music video? Simple question. But five hours later, I’m still pondering. Maybe it’s the purity of Sinead’s tear-stained face? The alien beauty of Bjork’s cavorting robots? The chaotic parody of Sabotage? Maybe. But I keep thinking back to my first ad agency, where I discovered Shots magazine. Each one with a VHS tape of assorted wonders. I watched Gondry’s 'Let Forever Be'. Then I watched it again. And again. Wondering how the fuck they did it? How he figured it out? All I could come up with is that with creativity you can do anything.