Seen and noted

BEST TV
Winner: The clear winner for us this week was Facebook 'Never Lost'. This was an incredible example of the power of the spoken word. There's been a lot of manifesto-over-found-footage ads recently, but this one really struck a chord. The slow visual build from emptiness to human connection, under the slightly off-beat rhythm of the poetry "I love people's faces," works perfectly. The end line then lands the spot nicely with Facebook's purpose as an inherent facilitator of human connection in this current crisis, and what they can do to help.

Runner Up: BBC 'Stay at Home'. Repurposing classic comedy clips into "Stay at home" PSAs is such a smart and creative way to get an important message across. There's a lot we liked about these spots, and not just because we're fans of the shows: they're simple, the takeaway is very clear, and they made me laugh - which is a welcomed departure from the slew of sadvertising that's out there at the moment.

BEST PRINT
One of the more disappointing things to see over the past month in advertising has been the influx of Cannes-baiting Covid-19 ads. When millions of people around the world are out-of-work and dying, it's not a time to be showing off.

With that in mind, our only pick for print this week goes to the GIVE-A-SHEET Project. I always love when print is interactive, and it's nice to see a campaign that's both clever and serves a purpose. It's a great initiative that creates an outlet for quarantined artists, while raising funds for those affected by the Covid-19 outbreak. But the ultimate sacrifices here are the precious squares of 2-ply that were donated as canvases.

No runners-up in Print for us.

BEST OUTDOOR
Slim pickings in out-of-home this week for obvious reasons. While nothing groundbreaking, the Flower Council of Holland 'Let Hope Bloom' was the pick of the bunch for us. It's a sharable, nicely-crafted installation that uses their product - a universal symbol of love and support - to convey their message of positivity. In doing so, it also ingeniously creates a purpose for their surplus stock as one of the many industries that are currently struggling.

No runners-up in Outdoor for us.

BEST INTERACTIVE
Winner: Elite Confectionery 'Embracing the Haters'. I love the bravery of this campaign. It's always risky to acknowledge the negative things people say about your brand, let alone embrace them and display them on your packaging for the whole world to see. Combining that with the tagline "You can't explain love," not only will it stand out on shelves, the loyal consumers will eat it with more pride than ever. Well done to the client and agency.

Runner up: BT Group: BT Code a Cake. Before visiting this site, I thought coding was hard and I knew how to bake a cake. Turns out I was wrong on both counts. Code the Cake demonstrates how simple coding is by using baking as a metaphor, and it works. But what I truly loved about this was the level of craft that went into the quirky design and animation. This could have been a somewhat boring exercise, but I found myself enjoying it along the way, even after getting the ingredients wrong 6 times in a row




This week's guest judges are Peter Defries (left) and Alan Wilson (right), creative directors at Publicis New York (but currently residing in their respective living rooms).

Since relocating to the U.S. from Australia in 2016, they have been behind several notable campaigns including the highly successful 'That Jif'ing Good' rebrand of Jif Peanut Butter, and Walmart's 'Famous' campaign that saw commercials in the last two Super Bowls. They've also helped build brands like Folger's 1850 Coffee, Smucker's, Cadillac, and Doctors of the World.

Throughout their careers, their work has been showcased at major shows including Cannes, D&AD, One Show, AICP, Cannes Young Lions, AWARD and more. Their work has also been featured in TIME, CNN, Forbes, Mashable, New York Post, Business Insider and Good Morning America.

In 2019 they had three films in Shoot Magazine's Top 100 videos of the year, and just last month their Jif vs Gif campaign was coined "The Best Peanut Butter Campaign of All Time".