Sometimes, an ad comes out that's just so understated in its humor, that it you end up remembering it better than ones that hammer you over the head with jokes. A good example of that is Ask.com's "Animals In Pants" ad.

In it, a research scientist is looking for a pot pie recipe on the web using Ask.com. He's using the site's "Binoculars" feature, which lets you preview a site before going to it. He loves it so much he says to his colleague, who's holding an orangutan in a pair of striped pants, "If you think about it, without tools we'd be just... you know..." to which a deep, kind of melancholy voice replies, "Animals in pants?"

It's the orangutan! But here's the kicker, and the subtle add-on that makes the add so much funnier to me: the scientist agrees with the orangutan, and we think the conversation is over, but then we hear the little guy say forlornly, "I'm hungry."

Awww. It's amazing how that one resignedly-delivered line makes me both laugh and feel sorry for this imaginary talking primate all at the same time. Will it get me to use Ask.com? Probably not. But at least I'm aware that it's there (and it's not called Ask Jeeves anymore). So at least they've achieved brand awareness. Now when I think of Ask, I won't think of a snooty butler, I'll think of a sad, hungry orangutan in pants. Nice going, Ask!