Seen and noted

BEST TV
Winner: International Paralympic Committee / International Disability Alliance 'We The 15'. Ten years after the launch of glorifying work like "Meet the Superhumans," some might think there's something truly rare about being disabled, perhaps missing the point that it's actually something pretty common: affecting 15% of the world's population. Some great moments of self-deprecating humanity and great editing manage to pull off a charming film that, in the wrong hands, could have been too cheesy and obvious.

Runner-up: To Kill a Mockingbird on Broadway 'Welcome Back'. We like when brands try to convey how their product or service feels instead of demonstrating it - like that turtle on rollerblades in the Avanti Trains ad. But Jeff Daniels' compelling VO, and the thrill of those minutes before the curtain is about to rise on the Broadway show after this long hiatus, gave us some of the good type of goose bumps.

BEST PRINT
Winner: Amnesty International 'Safety Distance'. Sadly, in Guatemala the only "safety distance" for those who are protesting against the government is protesting from another country. There's an idea somewhere in this print ad, but unfortunately the overall craft is not allowing it to shine as much as it deserves.

Runner-up: Pril 'Yoko'. Leaving aside the dated cliche of labeling Yoko Ono as the evil femme fatale that broke the Beatles, everything about this dishwashing soap ad smells a little fishy to us. However, we are fools for any Dadaist use of typography, so we'll pretend it's 1995 again and the estate of the Fab Four or Mrs. Ono couldn't care less about the use of their names in Thailand.

BEST OUTDOOR
Winner: Liquid Death 'Liquid Death Puts Tony Hawk's Blood In Limited Edition Skateboards'. We're old enough to remember Adidas' 2007 Cannes Lions GP which famously involved posters printed with the All Blacks players' blood. But what's cooler than owning a real skateboard decorated with The Birdman's own? For a brand that essentially aims to shock consumers, it seems like the right thumb stopping type of move.

Runner-up: Containers for Change 'Don't Feed The Fill'. We weren't sure about any of the runners-up, so decided to go with this one and its catchy CTA. Depicting landfill waste like a bottomless monster that we have the power to starve seems like a compelling and simple, Sesame Street-style, reminder.

BEST INTERACTIVE
Winner: Wallace & Gromit 'Fix Up The City'. Wallace and Gromit's world comes to life for fans in an exciting and polished AR experience that takes place in different locations. It may not be the most groundbreaking idea out there, but with their fan base and beloved characters, what would people rather do than wander outdoors chasing giant robots - particularly when it's one of the few things you can do safely these days.

Runner-up: Cadbury 'Your Future's In The Swirls and Curls'. At first we were put off by what undoubtedly is a waste of time and technology: an app that reads your future in the curls of a chocolate bar? Seriously? But then we looked at it with less pragmatic eyes and realized everyone likes a good fortune cookie precisely because it's ridiculous. So, unless you're ditching all the palm oil that goes into making a Twirl, there's probably nothing as serious as finding out that, "An old love will come back to you."

BEST RADIO
Winner: NZ Police 'Enjoy the view' This is as good as a radio ad can get for a serious topic. A dry but effective execution where an unsettling description is brilliantly resolved with a thought-provoking concept. You definitely don't want to become part of that view.

Runner-up: Nissan 'Wonderful humans. Tremendous minds'. It's far from the first time a brand talked to their audience with that pseudo-scientific detachment in order to describe our behavior as a human species. But we can see the value in the writing and overall craft, particularly in a category that typically uses radio in a loud and too rational way.




This week's guest judges are Carlos Alija and Laura Sampedro, executive creative directors at MullenLowe, Los Angeles.

Carlos Alija and Laura Sampedro are an international creative duo with 20+ years' experience across four countries and three continents. In Summer 2020, they joined MullenLowe LA as executive creative directors.

Priorly, they were group creative directors at Anomaly NY, where they provided creative leadership across the business. In July 2020, after a competitive pitch they created Coca-Cola's first global campaign since the pandemic, which was shortly followed by the agency winning the Coke US account.

For over five years they were creative directors at Wieden+Kennedy London, where they were responsible for global and regional award-winning work for Lurpak, Honda and Finish.

During a two-year stint in Sydney, Carlos and Laura were executive creative directors at the iconic Aussie agency BMF, where they played a key role in the creative turnaround of the agency and its main client, ALDI supermarkets.

Formerly they succeeded in the Spanish market: four years leading the creative work for Renault Automotive and six years at Sra. Rushmore, one of Spain’s most successful creative boutiques. As key senior members of their team, they contributed to make it number one in creativity and effectiveness for five years in a row.

Their work across different media has been recognized with more than a hundred international awards, including D&AD, Cannes Lions, The One Show, Clios, LIA, British Arrows, El Sol, Spikes and FIAP. They have also served as jury members in advertising festivals like D&AD, The One Show, British Arrows, AdAge Creativity Awards, El Sol, among others.