watch it: Kevin Spacey plays three roles (plus himself) in an American Airlines ad

Since the holiday shopping (and marketing) season is now fully upon us, this week I present, as the Web Videos of the Day, a few ads I’ve seen recently that didn’t make me want to kill myself.

Since the holidays mean visiting as well as shopping, here’s an ad for an airline. I love this ad partly for its cleverness -- which it manages without being precious -- but mostly because it shows off what a marvelous actor Kevin Spacey is. With just a few brief seconds, he instantly creates three very different yet very memorable characters. What’s more, only one of those characters has any significant dialogue. Brilliant.