Expedia’s remarkably moving short film, “Find Your Understanding,” tells the true story of man named Artie Goldstein and his journey to accept his daughter Jill Goldstein’s marriage to another woman, Nikki Weiss. As the world waits for the Supreme Court decision on the Defense Against Marriage Act, millions have viewed this socially-conscious ad online. But in a poignant twist of fate, the film has done more than just open the hearts of its viewers. This piece — which was named one of TED’s Ads Worth Spreading — has played a significant role in helping Nikki secure parental rights of her son, Adler.

According to an article on Creativity Online, Nikki and Jill had agreed to participate in the film because they wanted to set a positive example for families struggling to come to terms with their gay children. And while the film shows footage of the couple’s wedding in 2010, the pair were not legally married under federal law. So when Jill gave birth on their second wedding anniversary, Nikki had to convince a social worker to allow her to adopt her own son in order to be legally considered as his parent.

The meeting with the social worker did not begin warmly. While taking Nikki’s fingerprints, she grilled Nikki about her relationship to Jill, “when we’ve known each other since we were children,” Nikki tells Creativity. But when the social worker asked the Weiss-Goldsteins about how their families felt about their relationship, they played her Expedia’s film. The social worker broke down in tears, and, as Nikki said, “I don’t think there were any more questions after that.” Nikki’s adoption of Adler becomes final on April 17^th.

Sadly, Mr. Goldstein will not be able to see the impact of his eloquent and touching soliloquy on his path to acceptance of his daughter’s marriage. He passed away in January. But Nikki said that the Expedia film remains as a “love letter” from her father in law.

William Gelner, creative director at 180 LA, the agency behind the film, spoke to the TED Blog about “Find Your Understanding.” He says that it is proof that there needn’t be a “dividing line between doing good and [doing] business. Too rarely do we realize that, as advertising people, we have the ability to truly influence culture for the better.”

Gelner’s words embrace the spirit of Ads Worth Spreading, which TED created to recognize and award advertising that truly resonates with consumers. By boldly standing up for its values and talking to its audience like people rather than robotic purchasers, Expedia has gained new respect and a community of supporters.

As Gelner tells us, “[This ad] opened hearts, minds, and hopefully soon, the law books on the issue of marriage equality.”

Get to know more about Jill and Nikki, whose wedding was originally documented for an episode of The Real L Word, in the videos below:

How did the idea for Ads Worth Spreading come about?

Ads Worth Spreading was born out of our search for compelling advertising. We want to feature campaigns that are as fascinating as our talks. All our ads run as post-roll (after the talks), and we want our viewers to choose to watch those ads because they’re interesting, engaging, funny or beautiful. It’s hard to find ads that good, but it shouldn’t be.

We launched Ads Worth Spreading in 2010 as a clarion call to brands that want to communicate authentic and interesting ideas to their consumers in the same way that TED wants to communicate with its audience — by sharing powerful ideas. We want to reward companies that have invested in creating advertising that values human attention and intelligence, and takes the time to tell a thought-provoking story.

Is advertising dead? In what ways do these concepts reflect the evolution of thinking in advertising?

No, advertising is far from dead. New media, new devices and more discerning audiences present challenges to the industry, but with every new challenge comes opportunity. At TED, we have benefited greatly from the intellectual evolution of the audience. Six years ago, the industry would not have predicted massive popularity for online talks on math, science, design and technology – but we recently reached one billion video views on TED.com alone.

As smart content becomes more popular, audiences expect more than ever from advertisers. Through Ads Worth Spreading, we’re seeing that people appreciate long-form advertising that is idea-driven, with meaningful storytelling and high production values. Viewers want to experience an emotional connection.

Read the full interview >>

At the AICP Conference in New York this morning, TED announced the third cycle of Ads Worth Spreading, our initiative to find the 10 most compelling ad campaigns of the year. We also released a report to share insights from the creatives behind the winning ads and the nomination teams that picked them. The paper reveals how both creators and consumers think about ads.

Ads Worth Spreading finds examples of what advertising can be — how companies, corporations and organizations can successfully create informative, stimulating and enriching content for audiences. Imagine if advertising was not something to “sit through”; but instead, inspiring media that could spark change, raise awareness and communicate new thinking. Chipotle’s “Back to the Start” campaign spoke to people because it advocated a compelling idea – a return to a sustainable, ethical way to produce food and support for struggling small farmers.

In searching for the ads we wanted to watch, we learned that ads must be driven by ideas. It is no longer enough to repeat the pour shots, bites and smiles that have defined a large portion of advertising to this point. Brands must create wonder and find their place in larger cultural conversations.We also found that to convey a message, ads need to run longer than the 15- or 30-second spot.

It’s also important to understand how ads live in social media — videos are posted on YouTube, then tweeted and shared on Facebook. The post-production conversation is an essential part of the discussion between brands and consumers. And if there’s going to be a conversation, brands should have something to say.

For this year’s challenge, TED will tap thought leaders in advertising, the arts, business and more, to find compelling ad work from around the globe. Unlike last year’s open entry system, we will rely solely on the work of our nomination teams and advocates. We’ve found that with a global team of people from different backgrounds working together, the best ads and most interesting discoveries are made.

Six curated teams of two – made up of one renowned TED speaker paired with one rising star from the advertising industry – will seek out and nominate compelling ads and branded content in the categories of: Talk, Social Good, Cultural Compass, Creative Wonder, Brand Bravery and Education. In addition, TED’s 25 Advocates – industry leaders in advertising, production, curation and film – will also make suggestions and nominations.

YouTube is TED’s principal supporter on Ads Worth Spreading, lending their voice and reach to the initiative. Other supporters include: AICP, 4A’s, IAB, IAA, and Art Directors Club.

TED will curate the final selection of 2012’s ten most fascinating ads to be announced from the TED2013 conference in Long Beach, Calif. in February, and showcased on TED.com and YouTube.

Download the full Ads Worth Spreading report here >>

The 10 final selections of the second TED Ads Worth Spreading initiative were announced from the TED stage only moments ago, and we’re excited to share the results. The winners are a truly diverse group, representing the best of the categories Brand Bravery, Creative Wonder, Social Good, Cultural Compass, Talk and Storytelling.

Entries and nominations came in from 39 countries, and the winners reflect that global scope. Our 25 industry leading Advocates and our six Nomination Teams — each made up of one TED speaker and one bright young thinker in advertising — helped us find and curate spectacular campaigns.

We were thrilled by the enthusiastic response of the global advertising community, as over 300 agency office s submitted hundreds of impressive entries through our Ads Worth Spreading channel on YouTube. And, we offer warm thanks to our incredible supporters YouTube, AICP, Zester, Art Directors’ Club, 4A’s, IAB, IAA, Contagious Magazine and The Advertising Club of New York.

We hope you enjoy watching the 10 final selections as much as we did.

The 10 winners of TED’s inaugural Ads Worth Spreading initiative have been announced from the stage. Selected from more than 1,000 submissions from around the world, they are some of the most creative, compelling and out-of-the-box communications of the past year. The winners are a truly diverse group — from major agencies to tiny boutiques to college students and non-profits, hailing from around the world.

In an earlier interview, Chris Anderson had this to say about the effort:

“We’re seeking to reverse the trend of ads being aggressively forced on users. We want to nurture ads so good you choose to watch – and share. On TED.com, ads run after our talks, not before. As well as avoiding the annoyance of interruption, this positioning means they can run longer than the TV-standard 30-seconds. And that’s the key — in 2-3 minutes, there’s more time to tell a story, share an idea, make an authentic human connection. These winning ads, many of them long-form, powerfully demonstrate these strengths. We think they represent an exciting new way for companies to engage with the world in the internet age.”

YouTube was a key supporter in this challenge, helping solicit and review submissions and showcasing the winning ads on the homepage of YouTube.com. AICP and NiceSpots graciously provided us an easy-to-use online judging system. We were also given support by Art Directors Club, The One Club/One Show, 4A’s, IAA, IAB and Contagious Magazine. All ads are being featured on TED.com from March 21 to March 27, and in an online Winners Gallery for a year. Visit it here to see all the winners and honorable mentions >>