BEST TVWinner: AT&T "
Close to Home". Oh man. As a father of two little girls, I had to take a moment to collect myself after watching this one. Six characters woven together around one accident that should never have happened. The direction is superbly authentic, creating a lasting impression on the viewer. Expertly done.
Runner Up-ish (stole that from Nobby in last week's review): Adidas Originals "
Superstar". Nicely crafted but could maybe have used a little more provocation.
BEST PRINTWinner: The Samaritans "
Robin". Who said people don't like to read anymore? Very nice art direction and a headline that draws you in. Guess what, it was actually worth reading too. Great copy that opened my eyes to how depression really works.
Runner Up: Nothing else really caught my eye unfortunately.
BEST OUTDOOR Winner: Lexus "
The world's first car with a heartbeat". Really nice idea. I'd have loved to see more footage of the heartbeat in action and maybe treated it more like just a great piece of film than a case study, but it's still exhilarating. And it makes me want a Lexus. Job done.
Runner Up: Preview Magazine "
Fashion is Power". I'm saddened that my gender has caused there to be not one but two ideas showing women how to turn everyday items into weapons of self-defense. Of the two, this one appears to be more of a platform that can grow over time. Kudos for the ambition.
BEST INTERACTIVESome strong ideas in interactive, although it's hard to tell which ones belong here and which ones don't. So I'll just tell you what I like and leave it for the internet to argue about.
Winner/s: Itaipava "
Radio Finger". Is it me or are there a lot of ideas from South America that help guys avoid important things like work, or their wives? Anyway, doesn't matter. Radio Finger is stupid, and that's why I like it.
Runner Up: Unreal "
Brandon Semenuk". Mesmerizing trailer for a new film "Unreal" available on iTunes. I've watched it twice now and felt old both times. Of course it's a piece of film though...soooo, hence the runner-up.
This week's guest judge is Jay Benjamin, chief creative officer at Saatchi & Saatchi, New York.
A native of New York, Jay began his career as an art director at Bozell before heading off to Australia where he played a pivotal role in winning five Agency of the Year titles for Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney and Auckland. Not long after, as co-ECD of Leo Burnett Sydney he won the Cannes Media Grand Prix with Canon 'Photochains' as well as Cannes Media Agency of the Year. He helped ignite a global movement of over 1 billion people with Earth Hour's 'Vote Earth' campaign and the agency became the 7th most awarded agency in the world according to the Gunn Report. In 2009 Jay was named to Adnews Magazine's 40 under 40 list.
In 2010, Jay came home to New York to launch a new, entrepreneurially driven office for Leo Burnett. In under 3 years, the agency made Adage's Agencies to Watch list, doing work for Chobani, The Village Voice, Samsung, Kellogg's, Allstate and new technology brand Filip. The agency's work for the Village Voice, 'New York Writes Itself', including a crowd sourced off-broadway play, won an inaugural Gold Lion for Branded Content at Cannes in 2012 and Best of Show at the One Show Entertainment awards in 2013. In 2013 the agency was ranked 2nd in the world in Branded Content by AdAge.
Jay has travelled the world influencing positive change for some of the world's biggest brands and causes, won 37 Cannes Lions and hundreds of international awards, but still struggles to figure out how to put his two young girls to bed at the same time.
