The New York Times: Life Needs Truth commercial

Category: Advertising Craft, Editing; Entered by: Trim Editing

Set to a poem created from real New York Times headlines, this commercial aims to celebrate the power of journalism to help us make sense of the world we live in. The spot features images and media from the newspaper’s archive which are cleverly edited to encompass the breadth of journalism that the New York Times covers, from hard-hitting affairs to recipes. 

One of the challenges faced in creating the spot was addressing the ever-changing and unprecedented gravity of the year’s events, from the Black Lives Matter movement to Covid-19. Daily changes to the headlines would implicate the rhythm and pacing of the poem and require a re-cut. However, the adaptive approach was worth it to create a piece that spoke to our times and led to Life Needs Truth receiving over ten million views on YouTube.

Editing: Trim Editing
Editor: Tom Lindsay