• The Wall Street Journal, Monday, August 18, 2008 10:45 AM

Coca-Cola's whimsical ad dubbed "Bird's Nest" was one of the best-remembered and most-liked commercials during the first week of NBC's primetime Olympic coverage, according to Nielsen IAG. Emotional ads for General Electric and Visa also scored well.

Emotional ads are a "natural fit" for the Olympics because it matches the content, says John Norman, an executive creative director at Wieden + Kennedy in Amsterdam. "The Olympics are always full of heartfelt and underdog stories about the athletes," says Norman, who worked on "Bird's Nest." The ad features computer-animated birds swiping drinking straws to make a nest modeled on the Beijing stadium.

Many of the top-performing ads on IAG's list are lighthearted. While slapstick and shock advertising tend to work best during Super Bowl, the Olympics often calls for a softer approach. Kraft Foods scored high with an ad for Oreo cookies showing a girl boarding a train who sees a girl on another train through the window. The two copy each other's every move, including eating Oreos.

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