Mike Mesbur, creative director, Young Advertising

I love it when people surprise me with brilliance. Especially simple brilliance. Like that guy who invented the little pull-ring dohickey on the top of soft drink cans. Simple. Clever. The kind of idea that leaves you asking "Why didn't I think of that?" I know it's a few years ago now but it still impresses me.

The recent TV commercial for Club Orange made by Irish International is an idea that has had that same effect on me. I mean, we've all grown up with Club Orange as a brand. We've all seen every variation on "Orangy Bits".

We all know Club orange is the one that has the bits of real orange. But until now no one has managed to connect the name Club with this key brand attribute. Of course! It's called Club because they beat the oranges into bits using clubs. Bits. Club.

All in one thought. Duh!!! Why didn't I think of that? I'd like to imagine I would have thought of it had I been working on the brand. But the truth is I probably wouldn't. Because it's brilliant.

So the truth is I didn't think of it because I'm not Damian Hanley or Dylan Cotter. And obviously, they're pretty darn clever. Bless them.

Alan Kelly, copywriter Owens DDB

I hate cats. They serve no purpose. They are evil.

You might remember two or three years ago there was an ad on the telly for Sheba catfood. It showed a woman coming home and fawning over her obviously satanic cat as if she was having an affair with it - maybe she was. This ad hasn't been on for a couple of years now, I can only assume their relationship fell to pieces, when, at some stage the woman realised the cat hated her and was only using her for food.

Dogs, however, are a different story. At least they give you the odd wag of the tail, maybe even the occasional lick - something to suggest they aren't in cahoots with Beelzebub himself. I've always preferred dogs and I've always been a sucker for ads with dogs in them..

So, when it came to choosing my favourite ad - it inevitably featured a doggie.

My favourite ad of the year is "lost dog", for the National Lottery. This McConnell's ad had a "limited run" but it was nonetheless brilliant.

It took the format of a traditional lost dog poster and was found stuck to telegraph poles. It featured a photo of the poor unfortunate lost dog, only in this case the reward was for - one hundred and fifty thousand pounds!

If I was the woman in the Sheba ad and I had just won the Lottery, I'd probably spend a lot of it on that cat of hers - getting that thing stuffed and mounted would probably cost a bit.

Mark Nutley, copywriter, Irish International BBDO

Whatever else 2001 may be described as in years to come, a vintage year for Irish advertising will not be one. There was an uncomfortable amount of head scratching involved in trying to pick my favourite Irish campaign.

While the general standard of work may be nothing to be ashamed of, the lack of real "I wish I'd Done That" contenders this year is a little worrying.

After much soul searching I decided to pick McConnells recently aired AIB commercials as the best of the year. For a start it was nice to see a financial institution dusting themselves down from the DIRT and looking like they are interested in building their brand.

It was also refreshing that the campaign didn't focus on how wonderful an institution AIB is. Or how committed to you they are, or how individually tailored to meet your specific needs everything is.

Instead, we got a simple idea. A life can be led in many different ways, whichever way you choose AIB can help.

The two commercials that I have seen in the series so far were both executed with a lot of style. The performances were good and managed to hold my interest through the twisting narrative. I also liked the music track, which drove the pictures along nicely.

That said, I have to admit that I've picked this campaign because I know how hard it is to do decent work for financial institutions.

When I'd much rather be picking a piece of Irish advertising because it is worthy of not just national, but also international recognition.

On the plus side though, more Irish agencies are now developing international advertising for brands and Dublin is increasing being seen as a creative resource.

I was also given the opportunity to name my least favourite campaign of the year. But as this is the season of good will, I'll pass on that.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go away and try harder.