Seen and noted

BEST TV
Winner: The New York Times: Resolve. A lot of the incredible work in marketing today that sends vibrations through to your soul, resonates because of its ability to tap into what's happening in society at that moment. I would argue that the NY Times has been searching for the truth since the beginning, and that maybe this message wouldn't have played as profoundly as it does today at just any time in history. But it is the prefect message for these times and it's executed perfectly. It's both riveting and sadly depressing that the truth is so hard to find. I love this ad and this campaign.

Runner-up: Gillette: We Believe. A very brave stake in the ground and a super important conversation that needed to be started. I wanted the execution to be a lot tighter and less like a rip video and the main message to be more focused. But I'm willing to overlook these imperfections because overall I think this is a really smart strategy and an important conversation.

BEST PRINT
Winner: ACNE: Deer Santa. Oh when the modern world we live in cleverly slaps you in the face so simply and makes you think, yeah that's likely how my kids think, in URLs. It made me smile.

Runner-up: Scanavini padlocks: Pirate. Good old-fashion visual print technique. Leave just a little gap for the audience to do a little work to complete the story so they can enjoy the concept.

BEST OUTDOOR
Winner: Dagoma: Printable Guns. I love the intelligence behind this subversive tactic to tackle this problem. Talk about knowing your target, knowing where they are lurking around online and then serving them up a cleverly hidden hard-left-turn on their journey towards something likely sinister. One of those ideas where you think 'of course' that's what they should do.

Runner-up: Street Grace: #Stoptraffick. So simple, but in a really good way. To be honest at first I thought maybe a little too simple. But when I thought about it from the stand point of the public, the gravity of the statistic and seeing it brought to life that way in their home town or home State, it felt like it would have a huge impact on them to me. Very nicely done.

BEST INTERACTIVE
Winner: Geico: Best of Geico. Can these guys literally just do anything they want and it would seem great to me, or do they just keep switching it up enough to keep me intrigued? I have to go with the latter. I admire the Geico work and their ability to keep things fresh while maintaining a consistent tone without it feeling like they are just repeating history. Except in this case where they literally repeating their history to their benefit. I'll sign up for this jury any day.

Runner-up: Golden Eggs: World beaters. Sometimes we overthink, over strategize or over manufacture a solution. Other times we underestimate the power of one small action. As humans I do believe we are a playful bunch and if you invite us in to participate in some innocent silliness, often, as you see here, we are willing to play along.




This week's judge is Todd Mackie, co-chief creative officer at BBDO Toronto.

Todd has spent the last 3 years being the co-CCO of BBDO Toronto. Before that he spent 10 years at DDB Canada where he garnered 4 Strategy Agency of the Year titles and helped lead his team to win many creative effectiveness awards including many Gold Cassies and CMA awards.

Creatively he has won at every national and international award show, including the One Show, Clios, London International, Communication Arts, D&AD, and several Cannes Lions. Todd has also been an award judge for the Lisbon ad festival, The Bessies, Applied Arts, The CMA’s and The Marketing Awards. Over the last decade he has also been named one of the top ten CD’s in Canada.

Todd's love of problem solving is second only to his love of fishing. Sometimes he does both at the same time. Just ask him about the 7-pound smallmouth bass story.