In “12 Free Animated GIF Creators,” my article last week, I addressed tools to create animated GIFs for your website, email, and social media campaigns. In this article, I am highlighting some examples of animated GIFs from brands on Twitter. These GIFs serve a variety of purposes — demonstrating products, providing inspirational and educational content, celebrating events, or just having fun.
Hewlett-Packard
Celebrating its 75-year history, HP produced this GIF to convey how the founders flipped a coin to determine the name of the company. A simple animation can tell a big story.
Bill Hewlett & Dave Packard used a coin toss to determine whose name would come first. #TBT http://t.co/dXdL5bMELu pic.twitter.com/CZ7ruaalLi — HP (@HP) June 19, 2014
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Starbucks Coffee
This animated GIF from Starbucks is a whimsical scene of its product in motion. It’s also a good metaphor for what Starbucks’ customers want from coffee.
@sierradallas we’re working on our “post-nap wakeup surprise delivery” tech, Sierra. :) pic.twitter.com/p6eh2YXWB3
— Starbucks Coffee (@Starbucks) February 14, 2015
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Samsung Mobile
This GIF from Samsung Mobile shows the multi-user mode of its new tablet. The GIF quickly and clearly illustrates the product’s functionality.
Every family member gets their own profile with Multi User Mode on the #GALAXYTabS. pic.twitter.com/nxuehz13yj — SamsungMobile (@SamsungMobile) July 17, 2014
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Wendy’s
Here is a GIF from Wendy’s that showcases clever logo design, together with looping animation.
Is there something on our cheek? pic.twitter.com/MqyQYAFckr — Wendy’s (@Wendys) June 18, 2014
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About.com
This sequence of images from About.com presents a quick instructional GIF on how to cook bacon. It’s a useful demonstration of a popular item.
GIF: How to Make Perfect Bacon, courtesy of @daniloalfaro @aboutfood! (Full directions here: http://t.co/qm2M3GPCsv ) pic.twitter.com/a7vsrtto5Q — About.com (@aboutdotcom) June 18, 2014
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Fiat USA
This GIF from Fiat is exciting and funny, highlighting its car with cartoon horses, along with a few ridiculous live-action horses.
Unleash the #GIFs! For more #EndlessFun go to http://t.co/2PwUiYt05a. pic.twitter.com/pgFMNVlgvS — FIAT USA (@FIATUSA) June 18, 2014
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NASA
This animated GIF from NASA is a simulation of an upcoming mission — the first flight test of Orion. The inspirational animation and article link is a good lead generator for the mission’s web page.
Five things we’ll learn from @NASA_Orion’s first flight test later this year: http://t.co/7up8g2xkeh #OrionTest #GIFs pic.twitter.com/VCs3o8VNt2 — NASA (@NASA) June 18, 2014
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AT&T
This GIF from AT&T celebrates the official start of summer with a seasonal image. It also turns looping animation into endlessly watchable waves.
Our weather app reports sunny days ahead. Enjoy the official start of #summer. pic.twitter.com/8AdkR3YTDA — AT&T (@ATT) June 21, 2014
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Visually
Visually is a marketplace for original visual content. This GIF on disaster areas engages the viewer with a question and demonstrates a powerful infographic.
Disaster: Is your state at risk? http://t.co/bfTJXdCoVN via @FSprep pic.twitter.com/6i1FPCx2mZ — Visually (@Visually) June 20, 2014
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This animated GIF from Google was posted last year during the World Cup soccer tournament. It’s another good example of using a GIF to celebrate an event.
You’re not fooling anyone… #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/ShrZ8EqUgA — Google (@google) June 23, 2014
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[adult swim]
[adult swim] is a television production company that make funny cartoons for adults. This GIF conveys the company’s irreverent humor and style.
They say we can gif about it pic.twitter.com/zVA8I1oKTD — [adult swim] (@adultswim) June 18, 2014
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Taco Bell
This GIF from Taco Bell is another example of using animation to enhance a logo. The quick animation loop provides the right timing for the sparkles.
Fancy. pic.twitter.com/ShM1MBQUnB — Taco Bell (@tacobell) June 20, 2014
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Oreo
Oreo is a brand that frequently runs animated campaigns on social media. This GIF is from its recent #OREOCookieBalls holiday campaign. It’s a good example of how multiple GIFs can be used to tell a story.
.@ModCloth If at first you don’t succeed at perfecting #OREOCookieBalls, just eat the evidence. #DecktheBalls pic.twitter.com/WiRlw405Rl — Oreo Cookie (@Oreo) December 16, 2014
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Denny’s
This GIF from Denny’s is another example of animating a universally loved product like bacon. However, in this short, Denny’s uses the iconic quality of bacon to promote its restaurant.
Bacon neutrality is wrong. No one should ever be neutral when it comes to bacon. Ever. pic.twitter.com/lnbke66Ton — Denny’s (@DennysDiner) September 12, 2014
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GAP
This GIF from Gap is a good example of using the format to display a product in action. It’s also a helpful example of how dynamic content can be created and a story told with as little as three images.
Singer @GavinTurek perfectly pairs @Gap‘s fit & flare dress for a stroll. #Styldby http://t.co/uMDdmYOspx pic.twitter.com/8KwEghfTSp — Gap (@Gap) June 19, 2014
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