Cool = Surprises

We all want to make cool ads, right? Cool digital stuff. Cool TV stuff. Cool print, packaging, and even letterhead and table tents (if they're cool enough). Cool goes viral, gets talked about, gets rewarded. Cool will be the difference between a book that gets hired and one that gets sent back.
But what does cool mean? How do you create cool?
For me, cool = surprises.
When you see something you weren't expecting, something you hadn't anticipated, that's pretty cool.
When the mundane suddenly becomes fresh and interesting, that's pretty cool.
When something you've seen a million times before (say a marching band or a Rube Goldberg machine) is presented in such a way you think Why didn't I think of that?, that's pretty cool.
You've probably seen these three videos from OK Go. Just like you've probably seen their latest video All Is Not Lost.
But go ahead and watch them again. And notice how many things you find genuinely surprising. It's those surprise that make these videos cool.