THE BEST ADVERTISEMENTS OF 1997

1 VOLKSWAGEN: "SUNDAY AFTERNOON" Most car ads talk about the car or the life-style of its owner. VW's infectious spot does neither. Instead, it shows two slacker twentysomethings cruising aimlessly around a desolate stretch of Los Angeles in their VW Golf to the monotonous ditty Da Da Da. They retrieve an abandoned chair from the street, only to discard it minutes later after detecting its stench, then drive off, leaving viewers with this message about the car: "It fits your life or the complete lack thereof." The spot breathed new life into its sound-track song, a 1982 release by the now defunct German band Trio. It also created bumper-to-bumper parodies that replicated the ad down to the most minute detail, with everyone from Jay Leno to Bill Gates taking a joyride in a Golf.

2 Tabasco: "Mosquito" The 130-year-old red-pepper sauce provided zest during a 1997 Super Bowl full of commercial clunkers. When a mosquito bites someone consuming Tabasco and explodes seconds later, you don't have to live on a bayou to appreciate the piquant sauce's power.

3 Weather Channel: "Painted Faces" Sure, the 24-hr. channel could tout its forecasts. But this inspired campaign wants you to know that "if hell freezes over, you'll hear it here first." In a weather-themed bar, two rabid tube watchers breathlessly await the weekend outlook. The upshot is as clear as a blue sky: "Weather fans, you're not alone."

4 Diesel: "Little Rock, 1873" The fabric of jeans ads is usually interwoven with wit. But Italy's Diesel sews up the category by stitching outrageous, self-referential irony into the imagery of a spaghetti western. A filthy, overweight gunslinger swipes candy from a little girl, spits on a saloon floor and kicks a dog before shooting dead the Diesel-clad hero. Yes, nice guys do finish last.

5 Ikea: "OR" Want to turn forbidding places into comfortable living spaces? Watch Ikea's men in white redo an operating room. The cardiac monitor looks just fabulous in the entertainment center. And that plant on the IV-drip stand is another deft designer touch.

6 Apple Computer: "Think Different" They are on billboards, in magazines and on TV screens: the stark black-and-white photos of great innovators of this century, from Picasso to Amelia Earhart to Martin Luther King, celebrating Apple's unconventional core. They are a brilliant bit of image polishing by a company that has been bruised by recent failures in the marketplace. Steve Jobs really must be back.

7 Snickers: "Hungry? Why Wait?" In a series of situations in which waiting is the game, Snickers uses sweet humor to sell its nougat-filled chocolate bars. Hopefuls waiting to see St. Peter pass the time with a Snickers, as does a traded football player whose old tattoo must be painfully removed. The quirky spots take a bite out of boredom.

8 ABC: "TV Is Good" The No. 3 network's print campaign lampoons the very idea of watching TV. For example, ABC gleefully twists the notion, popular in some circles, that TV rots your brain. In place of such warnings, ABC coins its own cheeky maxims, like "The couch is your friend." We hear you.

9 United Airlines: "Rising" Reality bites in United's pointed print and TV spots, which acknowledge just how unfriendly today's skies can be. After skewering everything from tasteless airline food to frustrating cancellations and delays, United extends the promise of a better flight plan. "Compared to the rest of the industry," the ads declare, "we're moving in a different direction."

10 The Body Shop: "Ruby" Finally--a beauty ad that offers straight talk, not a miracle in a jar. The Body Shop, purveyor of all that's politically correct and completely natural, challenges tradition with an unblushing look at a size-18, full-figured doll. Ruby (as in Rubenesque) is more than just an image. She's the medium and the message: that natural looks can also be eye-catching.