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GUEST JUDGE /BEST AD OF THE WEEK
Guest judge: Bob Winter, ECD, Leo Burnett, Chicago This week's guest judge is Bob Winter, executive creative director at Leo Burnett/Chicago. In his first year at Burnett, he and partner Reed Collins won Cannes lions for work on Altoids. Before coming to Burnett, Bob spent three years at Goodby, Silverstein and Partners in San Francisco. He spent his formative years in advertising with DDB, where he created the Budweiser 'Real Men of Genius' campaign and won Gold Lions in both the television and radio categories. Over the course of his career, he has also won at D&AD, the One Show, Clios and Communications Arts.*** Best: I loved the Pure Blonde film from Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne. What a well-told story. Great casting and beautifully executed. It made me forget I'm a jaded creative for a second.... BEST TV Hooray for ads. I feel really good after viewing this week's top picks. I went into it worrying that I wouldn't like anything and then I'd have to find a way to pick two I didn't really hate and then find something nice but non-commital to say about them, but guess what? There's some really nice stuff here. Maybe it's because I'm four hours from a vacation, but who cares, they made me happy and I'm honored to review them. Best: I loved the Pure Blonde film from Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne. What a well-told story. Great casting and beautifully executed. It made me forget I'm a jaded creative for a second. And even though I guessed there was a twist coming (I felt personally invested in the well-being of that little dove, and that never goes well) it was still surprising and paid off the great (and insightful) line 'from a place much more pure than yours' perfectly. Jealous. Runner up: Allan Gray: Legend. Sometimes it's a cop-out to attach your brand to a celebrity. In this case, in my opinion at least, the thought of taking a celebrity we all know died too young and wrapping it in the idea of 'given more time, imagine the possibilities' was a fresh inventive take. Great writing. Crafted expertly. It even made me think about my own long-term investing. And why I don't have any. And why I'm not cool like James Dean. BEST PRINT Best: Ambi Pur: Calvin. I know, I know, we've seen spoofs of perfume ads before. But come on, this is funny. Shot with just the right amount of seriousness and beauty. And it makes me think about bathroom products a little differently. Plus, I kind of got lost in imagining the story of this unlikely couple meeting, falling in love and leaving a path of flower-fresh bathrooms in their wake. Please let me know how they are doing. Runner up: Ikea: Crossword. It's easy to say we should make communications people want to participate in, and hard to do. And here's a nice execution that does it well. It's fun. And it tells you things. And it isn't trying too hard. Thanks. BEST OUTDOOR Best: Office of Road Safety: Brain game. I have not seen a really unique take on the don't drink and drive message in a long time. This execution would be impossible not to notice. And would make you feel kind of dumb for drinking, and really dumb for drinking and driving. Great execution, great placement. Runner up: Elmex toothpaste: Bus ticket. Sure, it's a little gimmicky, but you know what - I bet it gets noticed and I bet it works. The idea of eschewing the usual sparkly shiny teeth message and instead showing holes punched in your teeth, literally, is no doubt surprising. And it makes me want to brush my teeth immediately. All in all, a great batch of ideas. Congratulations to all. And thanks for the opportunity. Have a great day everyone. I know I will, because I'm almost on vacation. Guest judge: Matt Ryan, Goodby Silverstein, San Francisco This week's guest judge is Matt Ryan, hybrid creative at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco. Matt has been bouncing across the globe for a number of years and has been fortunate enough to learn his craft at some off the hottest shops in the industry. Starting out at Leo Burnett in Sydney to Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand, AMV BBDO London to Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco. Throughout his travels Matt has sunk his teeth into many brands from worldwide global product launches for Wrigleys, reshaping McDonald's brand image in Australia to Helwett-Packard and has recently been getting down and dirty with NBA stars on the NBA Finals series campaign. Matt has picked up bling from all the major international award shows and been featured in the Gunn Report. *** Some really well crafted spots this week. Vince Squibb has shot a beautiful piece of film for the BBC, Fred & Farid have extended the 'We are animals' campaign for Wrangler that I loved from Cannes this year, but for me the pick has to go to the 'Jigga Man' himself, Jay-Z... BEST TV Ok I have to be honest with you. I'm currently in Los Angeles at the moment so the current batch of work has a lot of competition. Stunning weather, beautiful girls on the promenade and a nice line up of waves currently forming at the County Line in Malibu I have been trying my best to get amongst the past few days... Before you dive into my review I wanted to give a quick shout out to Jeff Goodby's poem house. If you have not checked out his side project at St Helena in California do yourself a favor and visit http://poemhouse.org/ it's well worth a peek. Some really well crafted spots this week. Vince Squibb has shot a beautiful piece of film for the BBC, Fred & Farid have extended the 'We are animals' campaign for Wrangler that I loved from Cannes this year, but for me the pick has to go to the 'Jigga Man' himself, Jay-Z. This film has already been through the acid test. I first spotted it a few weeks ago on TV, it instantly captured my attention. At first viewing I thought it was the latest clip off his new album I had been wanting to check out. It was not until the end frame rolled in, that the commercial nature became clear. This film is definitely going to resonate very closely with all his fans. No gimmicks, no value adding, just a simplistic showcase and celebration of Jay's past that remains true to his brand image. The boys from Droga 5 have created a fantastic film that has a touch of class, the world of gangsta rap is muddied with lots of similar acts. Jay Z definitely stands out from the pack and this film will help further separate him from all the other rappers fighting each other for air time. "Jay Z fans get it". They sure do and with a bit of luck this film will end with sales at Rhapsody as I'm keen for them to keep making spots like this. Runner up this week is Wrangler. I love the insight and thinking behind the 'We Are Animals' campaign and this execution is a good addition to all the great work previously produced. BEST PRINT The best of the print this week is for Capital magazine. This is a nice, big campaignable idea I can see living well beyond the printed page. I know I am being asked to judge simply in the related categories, in this case Print but I can't help but think of the possibilities that exist in alternative media outlets. Online will open a can of worms with the potential to catch people off guard in a very confrontational way. It could spark huge debate and discussions in online forums. Simply planting a few little seeds in lots of different media channels and letting the campaign take on a life of its own... all whilst relating back to Capital magazine. That's the sort thing I would like to see. Runner up is a bit tougher as its quite a gap between Capital and the rest. If I do have to pick one its VW. This may not be the best traditional execution I have seen created for the brand but I do have an affinity for well designed german cars. BEST OUTDOOR One standout. I am going to cheat again as I am looking well beyond an outdoor billboard. I'm not looking for an adaption of a print ad or a scammy idea simply for award shows. I am looking for big brand ideas, the Coopers 62 campaign is by far the biggest idea of the bunch. Getting your audience involved is absolutely key, the scope and potential of audience brand participation in this campaign is exciting. An idea that transcends all media and cultural boundaries and gets the public involved is where true advertising begins... well for me anyway. I can only imagine where this will go as I cannot see all the elements and stretch of the campaign from the US but I am very excited at its potential. Well done to the crew at CRC Sydney. Beer advertising is tough and this is a great example of how it should be done. I can already see the nice two-way conversation sparking between the brand and its consumers. Runner up this week for sheer shock value is Foundation Abbe Pierre. It's a traditional execution for a charity client and contradictory to my previous comments I do like the way the confronting visual grabs you and forces you to digest the simple message. Guest judge, Paul Catmur, Barnes, Catmur & Friends, Auckland
GUEST JUDGE /BEST AD OF THE WEEK
NEW ZEALAND
September 09, 2009 04:48 (Edited: September 08, 2023 15:11)
 This week's guest judge is Paul Catmur, creative partner at Barnes, Catmur & Friends, Auckland. Originally from the UK, Paul spent five years working in casinos in London and The Bahamas before deciding advertising would be much more fun. He was right.He started his career at Y&R in London before moving to DDB New Zealand in 2000 where he became ECD and CCO of DDB Asia Pacific. After several happy years he had one of his many mid-life crises and headed over to Melbourne where he became ECD of George Patterson Y&R Australasia. Missing fishing and needing a break from multinationals he came back to New Zealand and joined with Daniel Barnes to form Barnes, Catmur & Friends. He has won more awards than many, but way less than some, including Golds at Cannes and Silver at D&AD. He has judged at D&AD, Cannes, Clio, Adfest and Spikes and been convenor of judges at Axis and AWARD. Starting an agency in the middle of a recession was maybe not the brightest, but probably the most rewarding part of his career. He wants a happy agency striving to do great work without going broke. Awards are joint 14th in priority just behind having clean toilets. When not working he is generally fishing, sleeping or trying to to persuade his Staffy to let go of some other dog's frisbee. The Gwent police's anti-texting and driving film is a compelling piece of work. The banality of the rescue is what makes it for me.... BEST TV Lynchy has given me twelve minutes to put this together which means I haven't had time to be amusing (no surprises there). It also means I have to go on gut instinct which may be a good thing. The Gwent police's anti-texting and driving film is a compelling piece of work. The banality of the rescue is what makes it for me. Australia and New Zealand make some pretty good anti-speeding/drunk-driving ads but this is the most moving I've seen. Second prize goes to the Old Spice TVC, I can't imagine who actually wears the stuff but at least P&G have a sense of humour about it. Betandreas bookmaker company encourages its customers in every way. Especially it concerns new players, who are just starting to get acquainted with the bookmaker. bet andreas The official website has all the necessary information to minimize the risks of losing significant amounts of money on sports betting. BEST PRINT The print work is the usual selection that you see at award shows: ads done purely for the awards, charity ads and the odd clever one. The Fantasy Football ad almost made me smile (a rarity at my age) but is a little parochial so it gets runner-up. My vote goes to the Burswood Entertainment Complex ad. As a keen but crap poker player I'm right in the target audience and I couldn't help but interact with an ad like that. (A decent raise would have me folding with that Queen about.) BEST OUTDOOR I think all of the outdoor selection have some merit. As a junior I tried to get MC Escher into just about every ad (not easy for Sugar Puffs) and I think that the Casino di Venezia does it well. Both the New Zealand executions are clever, but as one only works in the day and the other only at night, maybe they should have shared the same site. The Sunlight billboard gets runner up as it's one of a number of executions that make a nice campaign. (I know, I know, it's an NZ bias but at least we can sleep easy knowing it's not a scam.) As biased as I am against charity ads I'm voting for the Israeli holiday meals execution. It's easy to have an idea like this on paper, but to actually go out and do it requires a lot of commitment. I would like to think it raised some money too. If it didn't, please can I have my vote back. Guest judge: Andy Greenaway, ECD Asia Pacific, Saatchi & Saatchi This week's guest judge is Andy Greenaway, executive creative director Asia Pacific of Saatchi & Saatchi.Andy has laid asphalt, cleaned hotplates, pulled pints, mown lawns, sold art (his own), modeled on a catwalk (before the beer belly) and has performed extensive fieldwork in elementary nutrition (he lived on baked beans and canned tomatoes for two years while at art college). He eventually stumbled into the direct marketing business at age 19 as a junior art director. In 1991, he moved to Asia where he has had stints in Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand. In 1999, he propelled Ogilvy Singapore to the top spot of the Campaign Brief Asia Rankings and helped keep them there for four years. Andy left Ogilvy in 2004 to start his own mobile content business (which today sells premium content in more than 20 countries around the world). Andy joined Saatchi as Regional Creative Director SE Asia at the end of 2004. He has won metal in every major show including various Golds at Cannes and Clio. He's also won a couple of coveted Silver pencils at D&AD. He has refused to write the full list awards down for our readers because he is now over 40 and he believes that kind of mental exertion can be dangerous at his age. First: Starship Foundation. Very emotional with a nice, if not altogether surprising, twist at the end.... BEST TV First: Starship Foundation. Very emotional with a nice, if not altogether surprising, twist at the end. Seeing the situation through the caring eyes of a child really pulls the heart strings and gives the situation more poignancy. I should imagine donations will come streaming in. Runner-up: Lambstock. Certainly nostalgic. And very watchable. It did irk me a bit, though. Lambs are usually a sign of peace and gentility and we're eating the poor buggers. But hey, we are talking to meat lovers who are not so sensitive about the more symbolic aspects of lambs. BEST PRINT First: Big Game Poker. None of the print particularly takes me. But if I had to choose, the winner would be Big Game Poker. It's an arresting image which demonstrates the idea that underdog (or perhaps underzebra) can turn the tables in this tournament. On the negative side, I find the use of animals a bit punny when used in conjunction with 'Big Game'. Runner-up: BCCA. I'm not smitten with this ad, but at least it's got a bit of humour in a category that's usually as dry as beef jerky. On the downside, I think it's an idea that's been done before in this category and others. So not original enough for me. BEST OUTDOOR First: Israel Cancer Association. An abruptive way to get across the skin cancer message. I feel the device is not original, though. We've seen it used by the Tate Gallery and many other brands over the years. Runner-up: Faber Castell. I thought putting a poster of crayons next to graffiti art was quite neat. The only rub, I feel, is that graffiti is done by toxic spray cans, not gentle pastels. Guest judge: Tom Eslinger, w/wide digital CD, Saatchi & Saatchi This week's guest judge is Tom Eslinger, worldwide digital creative director of Saatchi & Saatchi.Tom works across Saatchi & Saatchi's worldwide digital capability and is based in London. He has worked across the S&S network, with both a worldwide focus across network clients for integrated creative, strategy and operations, and an EMEA focus with respect to UK and European clients to develop integrated digital initiatives and programs. The North Dakota native has been a Creative Director for Saatchi & Saatchi since joining in Wellington, New Zealand in 1998. He was appointed in 2002 to the Worldwide Creative Board of Saatchi & Saatchi and leads the creative growth of Saatchi & Saatchi's worldwide digital team, adding new teams and capabilities and forging worldwide partnerships with best-in-breed creative partners. Before joining the network, Tom was a lecturer and part of the faculty which established Wanganui School of Design in New Zealand, one of the first creative-centred interactive Degree programmes in the world. Tom is a multiple Cannes Lion winner across outdoor, cyber, media, direct and promo for web and mobile work, and has judged, run Juries and been awarded internationally.Tom fell in love with type in college and has designed fonts for nearly 20 years, with work appearing in RayGunmagazine, The End of Print and CSA Archive/Design. His fonts have also spelled stuff in designs for Swatch, Sega, Toyota, Levi's and Burton Snowboards. In 2007, Tom was the President of the Cyber Lions jury at the Cannes International Advertising Awards. This was Tom's third Cannes jury appearance, serving on the 2002 Cyber and 2006 Titanium juries. Veronica: This is a fun ad, especially like the reference to bowling, a particular favourite past time in my home town in North Dakota... BEST TV Veronica: This is a fun ad, especially like the reference to bowling, a particular favourite past time in my home town in North Dakota. Would have liked to see a 'nu country' tune on the soundtrack - we bumpkins don't actually listen to all that much pickin' - but overall this one made me smile. Runner-up is ANZ. Being an ANZ customer who has always had great service, this feels like the right ad for them. I've always thought of ANZ as my 'local bank' and wasn't too clear about what city or country they were supposed to be running around in, until Jack said 'maaaaatttte'. BEST PRINT Shirt: I saw this when it was being developed and thought "That would make a great interactive ad." Which I always think is a compliment - if something looks this good in a 2D form, imagine what it would look like if it moved and glowed. Runner-up is Guinness: I loves me some typography, and obviously, so does Steve Davies. Nice, clean, simple, cool. BEST OUTDOOR TV3: Transformers: I must confess up front: comic geek - which may bias my view of the Transformers billboard. Not sure how much time lapsed as this was happening, but if it is where I think it was in Auckland, it would have been fun to pass this on the way home. Runner-up is Chicagonow.com: I thought this was very cool and feels like a nice way to drive some action through social media by creating work that starts conversations and participation. The big question is 'why would you drive to see the Cubs when the trains are RIGHT THERE!?!' Guest judge: Andrew Simon, SVP, Creative Director, DDB Canada This week's guest judge is Andrew Simon, SVP, Creative Director, DDB Canada.Since the age of three when his first painting 'Yellow' was purchased by a private collector for $1.7 million, Andrew has been marked for greatness. While at school for the emotionally gifted, he gained an appreciation for the art of macrame. Soon, he found himself traveling the globe, hobnobbing with the textile elite until he suffered a career-ending injury attempting an ill-advised double half hitch knot. It was during the long and painful rehabilitation process that he became addicted to barbiturates and developed an affinity for random shiny objects with no intrinsic value whatsoever. This, rather tragically, led to an inevitable career in advertising where he continues to accumulate pencils, lions and weird dudes holding circular thingies. It's time I lay my soul bare. I'm a sucker for an anthem. Whereas others crave heroin or crystal meth, my vice takes the form of a few piano chords, a gruff announcer and a well-constructed tome. So it should come as no surprise that I'm choosing the ESPN spot from Wieden & Kennedy Amsterdam as my fave of the week... BEST TV It's time I lay my soul bare. I'm a sucker for an anthem. Whereas others crave heroin or crystal meth, my vice takes the form of a few piano chords, a gruff announcer and a well-constructed tome. So it should come as no surprise that I'm choosing the ESPN spot from Wieden & Kennedy Amsterdam as my fave of the week. It's well shot, has a beautiful rhythm, and makes me want to pack up and move to the UK just so I can catch the Premier League on the telly. Could it possibly have gone further into the mind of the truly obsessed? Sure. Was I left longing for a bit more poetic genius along the lines of the groaning sofa? Absolutely. But there's certainly enough there to keep me satiated. My runner-up pick is the Quilmes spot from Argentina. BEST PRINT This was a real toughie. But after much internal debate with my other personalities and a tune up from my therapist, Surf rises to the top. It's dead simple and like any good piece of communication, demands the viewer take part and be engaged. I certainly applaud the time and care that went into bringing the bee to life and the subtleties of the angel graphic. And let us not forget that it pays off the product proposition quite nicely. A close second was the TreeHouseautism piece from London. Bending the headline along the wall was an inspired touch. A small nit but I could've done without the dad looking longingly at his affected daughter. BEST OUTDOOR Here's the thing about new technology. Without the right idea behind it, it's like putting on your slinky black party dress to go outside and pick up the morning paper (guys, you know what I'm talking about). So when I see things like the Hallmark Channel's living poster, I'm left shaking my head in that annoying condescending way that drives people crazy. On the brighter side, the idea that got me excited this week was the oversized business cards from PacBlue Printing to promote large format printing services. In this case, size does matter and this execution would certainly get the water cooler conversation started. Giant rolodex, anyone? I don't really have a 2nd fave for this category but if push came to shove I'd select the Funktion Personal Training idea. Guest judge, Andrew Fraser, creative director, Sydney This week's guest judge is Sydney-based creative director Andrew Fraser, who started his career in advertising at BMP (now DDB London) and was there for 15 years.He subsequently took up ECD roles at Draftfcb and Rapier in London, and more recently at JWT Sydney. Andrew's most celebrated work is for Volkswagen and The Guardian newspaper. He has won awards at Cannes, D&AD and The One Show, including Best of Show. Maybe I would have been a bit more interested in history if the history lesson had been about booze and the history teacher had been Robert Carlyle. In this beautifully produced epic, Carlyle walks us through the story of Johnnie Walker whisky since the company's beginnings as a humble grocer's shop in Kilmarnock back in... BEST TV Winner: Maybe I would have been a bit more interested in history if the history lesson had been about booze and the history teacher had been Robert Carlyle. In this beautifully produced epic, Carlyle walks us through the story of Johnnie Walker whisky since the company's beginnings as a humble grocer's shop in Kilmarnock back in... oops forgot the date; still no good at history, it turns out. Being picky, some parts of the story work better than others and, although I love the 6-minute format, there are some slightly weaker areas to the monologue, which is a pity. This is a tiny point, however. This execution is a clever diversion for the broader campaign, adding compelling facts and deeper meaning to the Keep Walking idea. I like it for that. It gives substance to the brand and helps me to engage more. But, for me, it's the overall effect that is so impressive. The music, the highland scenery, the restrained direction and the powerful and seamless delivery from Carlyle, all combine to make this a really memorable piece of work. Runner-up: Three Bond. I enjoyed this ad. The idea is clever, fresh and rewarding. Although, slightly unsure about the bloke's dancing. BEST PRINT Winner: ESPN has produced some great advertising over the years. This ESPN print ad is simple and I like it, but it doesn't quite have the razor sharp insight into sport and sports fans that we're used to from this client. Runner-up: Cupid condoms. Most routes have been covered before in condom advertising - even the most lateral ones - so it's hard (almost impossible) to find a genuinely fresh idea, especially in print. I do feel I've seen this approach before; a shame, but this execution is carried off pretty well. BEST OUTDOOR Winner: I like the kids who could fly idea for Random House. Children will love it; they will want to interact with it; and it will make them interested in the book. What more could you ask from an advertising idea? Runner-up: The Lays ambient idea is funny and works well with their campaign thought, promoting their potatoes as locally grown. It would definitely make you chuckle on the way to work. Guest judge, Kevin Moehlenkamp, CCO, Hill Holliday, Boston This week's guest judge is Kevin Moehlenkamp, Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer of Hill Holliday, Boston.Since 2004, Kevin has been led the creative charge for clients including Bank of America, Liberty Mutual, Dunkin' Donuts, CVS/pharmacy and Chili's to name a few. Prior to Hill Holliday, Kevin served at McCann-Erickson in San Francisco where he led creative efforts for Microsoft in more than 30 countries as its worldwide creative director. Kevin began his career in New York, as a designer and art director, working at J. Walter Thompson under James Patterson. He then made a move to BBDO, where he worked for 10 years building such great brands as Visa, HBO, Frito-Lay and FedEx. Kevin then left New York to take the creative reins of McCann-Erickson, in Detroit and then San Francisco. Some of Kevin's work is on permanent display at New York's Museum of Modern Art. His work for HBO won him an Emmy Award. You've seen his television work on numerous Super Bowls. These are just a few highlights in a creative career that has spanned over 20 years. This week's TV was an interesting study in contrasts. Half the spots were solid ideas well executed on a small budget. The other half kind of proved the point that big money thrown at a small idea still makes a small idea. My favorite spot in the bunch was a little spot out of India for Tata Indicom.... BEST TV This week's TV was an interesting study in contrasts. Half the spots were solid ideas well executed on a small budget. The other half kind of proved the point that big money thrown at a small idea still makes a small idea. My favorite spot in the bunch was a little spot out of India for Tata Indicom. While it took a couple of viewings for me to tune in culturally, the idea came through loud and clear. It was absurdly hysterical and I think Skittles may have another couple of great actors for its next rev. My runner up favorite was a tie between the spots for Panasonic and TruTV. Both were simple premises brilliantly and simply executed. Nicely done. BEST PRINT In the print category, the dogs have it. My two favorite ads were for America's Next Top Model and Kennel1 dog laxative. As an art director I am always partial to a piece of advertising where copy is optional. Both of these great ads needed no splainin'. They hit me right between the eyes. Although, if I absolutely had to choose a favorite, top honors would go to America's Next Top Model. I mean, if you are one of those agency folks who are lucky enough to have a dog laxative client pass through your agency (no pun intended) you really better knock the thing out of the park. BEST OUTDOOR In the outdoor category the cars have it. Both the Volkswagen and Car Magazine efforts out of Cape Town were stellar. They both took two potentially complicated product stories and turned them into powerful experiences. You could sit all day and talk to me about park assist and all you could expect is a glassy look and a bit of drool. Yummy. Instead, with both these executions, I feel the message. So much cooler than tepid drool. What are those guys in Cape Town drinking? Send some my way and keep doing it. Guest judge, Andy Bird, head of art, Ogilvy London This week's guest judge is Andy Bird, associate creative partner and head of art of Ogilvy London.Previously he was a a founding partner of Soul Advertising in 2000 and Nitro London in 2006. Before that he spent seven years at Bartle Bogle Hegarty learning what advertising is all about. Like fellow Geordie and former Bestads judge, Russell Ramsey, he supports a useless football team. Pick of the bunch is the Syn Mun Kong Insurance ad, very funny, and true, (after all, who doesn't rubberneck at accidents?)... BEST TV Pick of the bunch is the Syn Mun Kong Insurance ad, very funny, and true, (after all, who doesn't rubberneck at accidents?) And an honourable mention to the chilling Domestic Violence ad from Womens Refuge NZ. BEST PRINT Well, adding fuel to the argument that ad creatives are a juvenile bunch of prepubescents, in this week's batch of print we have 1 penis gag, 2 fart gags, 1 toilet joke, and 1 perving gag, (and none of them, amazingly from the UK) This week's winner however goes to the totally knob gag free Virginie Castaway for their freshingly art directed and intelligent 'Dress' ad. BEST OUTDOOR Most of this weeks bunch are 'stunts' or ambient ideas, you know the sort of things you put at the end of presentations or pitches that never get made, or even acknowledged, so hats off to all those concerned for making them happen. The pick of the bunch for me is the Suzuki L plate work form Melbourne. But being the boring traditionalist that I am, my favorite this week is the Henkel Adhesive chain poster, Simple idea, simply executed and simply great. Teikiame kokybikas ir profesionalias aplinkos tvarkymo paslaugas. Medi? pjovimas gen?jimas. ol?s, vejos pjovimas ir priei?ra. Avarini? medi? pjovimas pjovejai.lt Guest judge, Parker Channon, ECD, Duncan/Channon, San Francisco A caveat: Although he is a writer, and arguably one of the finest and funniest in the business, James Parker Channon is otherwise a man of so few words - no matter how choice - that lesser writers working on the Duncan/Channon website actually have to pad his pithy autobiographizing in order to make it the same length as the others. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam dolore magna aliquam erat volputate. After attending UC Berkeley, Parker began his career at Foote, Cone & Belding/San Francisco. In addition to helping Pacific Bell hawk a befuddling new service called electronic mail (the kids call it: 'e-mail'), he hornswoggled grown men into buying Gameboys - and an illicit love affair with the gaming industry was born. As a partner and executive creative director at Duncan/Channon, Parker has worked with nearly every major videogame company in the world, selling countless titles and garnering industry honors galore. He has also developed the innovative - and award-winning - multimedia campaign that helped Clos du Bois grow from under a million cases to more than two, and he heads the creative crew responsible for mesmerizing the well-heeled into acquiring luxury condos from, among others, Tishman Speyer. Celebrating his bourbon-soaked Louisville lineage, Parker hosts a Kentucky Derby party the first Saturday of each May which should, under no circumstances, be missed. All good stuff, but for me the winner was the Coconuts spot from DDB London. Sucked me right in. Made me laugh. And ultimately delivered an unexpected, yet relevant, way to highlight VW's new gearbox.... BEST TV All good stuff, but for me the winner was the Coconuts spot from DDB London. Sucked me right in. Made me laugh. And ultimately delivered an unexpected, yet relevant, way to highlight VW's new gearbox. My runner-up choice surprised even me. Fallon always does great creative, but, if I was the CD and the creative team brought me this idea for Travelers, I think I would have sent them back for more. That said, in execution, the spot sings. And it's all because of a master thespian. Forget Robert De Niro, that damn dog may be the finest actor of our generation. BEST PRINT Again, all killer/no filler. But if you put a gun to my head - and let's not have it come to that - I choose the Liqui Fruit ad from Bester Burke Slingers. I quibble with the execution of the photo, but the citrus-in-the-eye observation seemed a nice, sly way to approach a fairly standard positioning for O.J. In close second, I'd put the Campbell's chicken stock ad. A simple story told with refreshing economy. BEST OUTDOOR Being American, I confess the Ashes Sledging mobile boards were positively confounding at first. But after a quick trip to Wikipedia to sort out the various cricket colloquialisms, I found them to be quite funny and, far and away, my fave. Who knew there was trash talk in cricket? Having spent a long afternoon watching a test match many years ago with an English friend, I mistakenly believed there wasn't a single thing to recommend the sport. Now I know there's exactly one. As for runner-up honors, I'm finding it nearly impossible to choose. They really are all very good. So I'll take the coward's route and declare a five-way tie for silver. Well done. Guest judge, John Messum, freelance creative director, London John Messum is currently a freelance creative director at the rapidly growing two year old, Hurrell Moseley Dawson & Grimmer, London.He began his career 21 years ago as an art director at Saatchi and Saatchi, London when he was fortunate enough to be hired by the utterly inspirational Paul Arden. John worked across many of the agency's clients, including British Airways, Silk Cut, British Army, NHS Nursing Recruitment, Castlemaine XXXX, Northern Foods, P&G and Sony. After two years at Britain's most innovative and radical agency of the 90's, HHCL& Partners, and a further two year stint as Head of Art at Saatchi & Saatchi under Dave Droga, John joined The Leith Agency, the most awarded creative agency outside of London. As one of the founding partners of Leith London, he helped Leith expand their business beyond their Scottish homeland, creating campaigns for clients including Carling, Hotpoint, lastminute.com and Fentiman's botanical beverages. John has won numerous awards at Cannes, The One Show, D&Ad, BTAA, Creative Circle and Campaign Press and Poster. Beers all round for VB. In a word - Epic, engaging, funny, and really well written (slightly unsure what 'Cashed up Bogans' are though - I'll check with resident Aussie 'Doogs' tomorrow morning)... BEST TV Beers all round for VB. In a word - Epic, engaging, funny, and really well written (slightly unsure what 'Cashed up Bogans' are though - I'll check with resident Aussie 'Doogs' tomorrow morning)... Leaves me wanting more, which is just what a good ad for beer should do. Runner up: Skittles. Love this campaign. It's brave, memorable and different (in a way I remember the original Tango commercials were in the 90's). This spot's not quite up there with 'Pinata' or 'Touch' but it's good. Mad. But good. Before I move onto print, as I watched the beautifully crafted LandSAR spot, I wonder, why is it every bloke in commercials is called Dave? BEST PRINT I don't think I'm in a minority of one if I ask, is anyone else getting just the teensiest bit bored of double page spreads with a big picture and a little line and logo tucked away in the bottom right hand corner? Which is why I'm drawn to the Harvey Nicks ad. I saw it in the paper the other week and I liked it because it felt fresh for the long running Harvey Nicks sale ads. Crafted to hell and back again (and I do like a bit of craft), great attention to detail, witty AND it's a sale ad! Great. Runner up: What was I just saying about double pages with a little line and a logo... Still, Jimmy Hood made me chuckle, and I did like the shot, but more memorable was the retouching (I hope) of the two gentlemen's under knackers. BEST OUTDOOR Only one thing stood out for me here. The Fisch Franke citylight poster. A good poster is a visual shout. This one has just 4 words and a memorable visual. Perfect. (I was reassured at the end of the bit of film that came with the poster, that no fish were harmed in the making of this poster. A bugger for the ones that were decapitated, grilled and served in the restaurant then). Phew. 11.30 pm, finished with half an hour to spare. Just enough time for a fish finger sarnie before bed. Guest judge, Aron Baxter, CD, Nice Shoes, New York This week's guest judge is Nice Shoes, New York's new Creative Director Aron Baxter, who has come full circle. The London-born Baxter joined Nice Shoes as a senior VFX artist in January 2003 then moved over to Guava, the company's sister VFX Company. Now, with the merger of Nice Shoes and Guava, he has returned to the parent company to assume the new role of creative director.Prior to that he hag a six-year stint at London's renowned The Moving Picture Company starting as a Quantel Henry, Hal and Harry artist and later became a Discreet Flame artist. Baxter created visual effects for a slate of features, among them the James Bond film 'GoldenEye', the motion-picture version of 'Les Miserables' and the classic children's tale, 'The Borrowers'. Previously Baxter had also added his talent to Tim Burton's 1988 'Batman' where he worked with Academy Award-winning production designer Anton Furst. In his time at Nice Shoes and Guava he's worked on high-profile commercials for Goodyear, Ameritrade, Mastercard, American Express, Calvin Klein, IBM, Sprite, Smirnoff and Cartoon Network Fusion Fall. Aron's review follows here... BEST TV Deceptively simple, this latest campaign for Budweiser, launched on Independence day, appeals due to its quirky nature, depth of content and inclusion of the Beatles tune, (All Together Now was written by Lennon & McCartney - recorded here by The Hours). The pace and notion of continual movement helps our belief of one continual journey. It is however, the potential amount of hours it must have taken to shoot, combine and enhance all the footage for the spot is that is bewildering, especially when the result is one this unifying piece. Hats off to all involved. Second pick Audi Stop/Start Ahh, the appeal of car commercials with little or no car. This fuel efficient sentiment is cleverly executed with the alternative '"lightbulbs" revealed gradually after some stunning visuals and light interaction with the environments. BEST PRINT Top pick is Zoo Safari - Lion This striking rich image delivers its message instantly and with clarity. Appealing to the child in all of us, the revelation of coming face to face with this animal heightens the senses and our curiosity. Shouldn't she have her window up though, it's awfully close. The Efficiency campaign is my second pick. VW is such a trusted brand that this works while enforcing the BlueMotion range. People with Volkswagens will be curious. Oh, and it saves you money, there they go, appealing to the rest of us. BEST OUTDOOR The Midea Fans is the best here. Simple and clever and inspired. These outdoor ads are often location specific, so it immediately makes one think of other buildings and cities where this might work too. Second pick is Coke - Velcro Live interactive ads can be great, and annoying, especially if you miss the bus. Guest judge, Gilles Fichteberg, CCO, CLM BBDO, Paris This week's guest judge is Gilles Fichteberg, vice president chief creative officer at CLM BBDO Paris.He started his career in advertising as an art director at Saatchi Paris in 1997, where he met and teamed up with Jean-Francois Sacco. They worked on campaigns like Toyota, Rockstar Interactive and Procter & Gamble. He then went to Young & Rubicam from 2002 to 2003, where he mainly worked on the Schweppes, Decathlon and Land Rover accounts. He arrived at CLM BBDO in 2003. After having worked on accounts like Mercedes, Total, Smart and Pepsi, which have won many national and international awards, Gilles and Jean-Francis have just been made vice president CCOs at the agency. Over the last years, they have won many prestigious awards, such as Clios, Eurobests, Andys, YoungGuns, Lions ... the most recent being a Grand Clio for their work on Alka Seltzer. BEST TV Belgacom An everyday individual immersed in a star's world to serve VOD or other content is a relatively common advertising approach but I really like the direction, which breathes new life into this kind of comedy.... BEST TV Belgacom An everyday individual immersed in a star's world to serve VOD or other content is a relatively common advertising approach but I really like the direction, which breathes new life into this kind of comedy. It works, it's believable. The Doritos commercial is really funny and points to a campaign with a lot of potential. The product insight is very relevant. I hope this saga will be as successful as the previous one. BEST OUTDOOR Papakura An impactful campaign with real-time action on drivers' behaviour. It's effective because the medium is located at the hazard spot and dramatically shows the consequences of an accident. The technique used is interesting as it extends the possibilities of the incredible medium of outdoor advertising. Alteco A prime example of live advertising. It's a good idea that relates directly to the product benefits of glue. This kind of setup is increasingly common so we should hurry before it loses its originality. Jimmy In this campaign, the use of the store window as a communication medium is extremely relevant. Ending up in the shoes of a key witness when you were just going to the toilet at the cinema is really funny. It just goes to show that in guerilla marketing we're sometimes in the right place at the right time. BEST PRINT Young Director Award A fresh outdoor ad that gives an offbeat look at a budding director. A family drama is used to create tension in the slightly cruel yet funny ad. It's a good ad on a subject that has been conveyed by several excellent campaigns. Guest judge: Colin Lamberton, Co-ECD, Grey Amsterdam This week's guest judge is Colin Lamberton, Co-ECD at Grey Amsterdam.At the insistence of his copywriter, Seyoan Vela, Colin reluctantly gave up van driving for a job at Lowe Howard-Spink, and was lucky enough to work on clients like Smirnoff, Heineken and Vauxhall. After seeing the fantastic Chiat/Day London offices, the pair moved to work on First Direct, The Observer and The Bodyshop. In 1995, they became founder members of St. Luke's, and had a lot of fun putting Eric Cantona on the Eurostar, making shorts films for Radio One, using Gremlins to improve Adult Literacy and generally enjoying the Nathan Barley-style madness of it all. After nine years they opted for a different kind of madness at Euro RSCG London, as CDs on Evian, LG, Uniqlo and Co-op. In 2007 they started their own company, Ether, to explore alternative advertising methods, and after working with Grey on successful Toshiba and Fortis pitches, moved to Amsterdam as ECD's. In his spare time Colin enjoys boring people about typography, playing video games, and writing about himself in the third person. The other day I was exploring some of the further reaches of the old pumping station that houses Grey Amsterdam, and I discovered a hidden cache of old D&AD and One Show Annuals. After a few hours I was evicted by a security guard who wanted to go home, but before I left I excitedly told him my two observations: 1. Sometimes it was easier to do 'good' stuff in those days. Obviously less had been done. This was a time when an ad could be an ad, it didn't need a website, social media strategy, twitter feed etc. attached. It didn't need to come with an explanatory case study video. 2. But the ads spoke to people. They weren't all puzzles you had to work out, with a tiny packshot or logo (in the bottom right corner as your only clue). Maybe this was a less international time, before the rise of Cannes and Lurzers archive. They didn't always want to start a conversation, but they told you something. BEST PRINT Anyways, I was surprised when going through the ads to review this week and saw one of the ads that struck me so. Surely this Daffy's ad was from the early 90's. Are they running it again. Either as part of the recycling effort or to try and beat the recession? Dunno, but it's a great ad even now- strong tone of voice, traffic stopping visual, on a price brief too. BEST TV TV was a only little harder to chose a favourite. I liked the idea of the Brandt commercial but was fiddling around on Facebook long before the payoff. I liked the direction of the Volkswagen commercial but being a dad myself found the strategy off-putting. The ad I would most like to have done would be the Chin Chilli Day for Vegas. I like the strategy - it would have been easy to just show the highlights of that picturesque city - but it's the execution that really takes things to another level and genuinely made me laugh. BEST OUTDOOR And for outdoor? Well, that was pretty tough. If you look at a lot of 'outdoor' executions these days, and weigh up the proportions of the logo and endlines, you wonder who they're aimed at. People with incredible vision and an unusual interest in advertising? It's a loud and proud medium. Posters need to be simple and bold. It's possibly the hardest medium because of these restrictions, but hey - that's the game. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. So for me the only execution that worked as a poster was the Allan Gray quilted execution 'Patience is our virtue'. Guest judge: Mark Chalmers, partner and CD, Perfect Fools This week's guest judge is Mark Chalmers, partner and creative director of Perfect Fools, Amsterdam.Voted one of Europe's top 5 interactive creative directors by Campaign, Chalmers joined the Fools founding their Amsterdam studios in April 2008. A former artist and architect Mark has specialised in bringing brands to life in all forms, from installations to print, film and new media, he's gone from bricks & mortar to bytes, banners and beyond. Co-founder of Creative Social, the global digital collective, he manages to travel the world in the name of work and is concerned he enjoys gardening. Genius addition to the Nike Kobe & LeBron NBA playoff campaign. For me this is what it's all about. When you're sitting in front a of a screen without a keyboard you may as well be entertained.... BEST TV Genius addition to the Nike Kobe & LeBron NBA playoff campaign. For me this is what it's all about. When you're sitting in front of a screen without a keyboard you may as well be entertained. "Have you just like sat on someone's shoulder while you're in the air?" "You've got over twenty triple doubles, can I have one?" If one of you smart readers can dissect a commercial through its cuts, to a strategy, proposition, product info and packshot, then it feels like someone hasn't done the wrapping right. We've sort of moved on from there or at least should have and the talented folks at W+K once again prove there's a bigger world out there and this one is working as hard online as it is off. Hey even Kanye has it on his blog. What I respect about this ad and another of Nike's notable conquests - 72 and Sunny's "Take it to the next level", is that the more you watch these films the more you can get into them, with writing that's born from considered insights and public comments born out of sheer passion. Read a few on YouTube. I don't know what to think about the crazy woman bbq trick because there's a bit missing. I want to know what happened in between the cut where the meat flies into the air and when we see it again landing on the BBQ. BEST PRINT Unlike TV where an extended family called the internet, turned up at the door and it's still wondering where to sit them, print feels like it has got a good grasp on its medium and there are 3 that I'd like to mention. Levi's kids Lovely well 'ard humpty dumpty. As much as it's aimed at the parents, I can see a few kids having these on their wall. This feels like a solid piece of print advertising and I'd love to see the rest of the campaign. Could we swap Levi's for another brand in these ads? I think we could. A lot of heritage rich brands could own this ground but it's the Levi's ubiquity that saves the day here and probably places them best for it. Kia soul - fish. We've all grown up with advertising, we all know what it does, we all know that most cars work pretty much the same, so for me at least, it's about buying into the brand. I get a bit of understated brand sensitivity from this ad within a message that just about everyone else has previously said. This print work has been executed well, with both the art direction and words sharing a confident yet modest tone. You don't always have to be a brash head turner to deliver well. SHS I'm a Tim walker fan so I like this kinda stuff. Here Grey, Paris and the talented Riccardo Bagnoli have added a nice spot of underhand romanticism to a bunch of yet more childhood favourites. The colonial style Indians with a strung up Pinocchio set a pretty strong message to any other long nosed wooden puppets out there. BEST OUTDOOR Not so much to say here. Outdoor has created a really competitive category and there's some fair stabs at most types of execution areas here but nothing killer. Pizza Hut Bikes could be a killer though, literally. This wouldn't get far in the States or the UK where previous campaigns encouraging speed have been selectively removed but I like the idea of adding a tracking device and an iphone app. The clocks are relayed back online so you can follow your dinner as you entertain yourself watching Lil Dez for the millionth time. Guest judge: Frazer Jelleyman, ECD, David&Goliath, London This week's guest judge is Frazer Jelleyman, the newly appointed executive creative director of David&Goliath's London office, which opened its doors in April of this year.Jelleyman joined D&G London from TBWALondon, where he spent eight years, most recently as creative director. While there, Jelleyman worked on award winning campaigns for clients such as Masterfoods, Sony Playstation and Nissan. Prior to TBWALondon, Jelleyman was art director at DDB in London where he came up with creative campaigns for Volkswagen and Nicorette, among others. His work has been recognized by juries at Cannes, D&AD, BTAA, Campaign poster, Creative Circle and Kinsale. It's towards the end of a long day, the Carnaby Street sun streams through the window, as my favourite of this week's spots begins to play. Strongbow 'Bowtime', feels to me as if it's got a lot of things right.... BEST TV It's towards the end of a long day, the Carnaby Street sun streams through the window, as my favourite of this week's spots begins to play. Strongbow 'Bowtime', feels to me as if it's got a lot of things right. It's populist, epic without being too gratuitous, and handles the ubiquitous 'cider is a refreshing drink' part of the brief in a covert not overt way. The Braveheart-esque dialogue is nicely written. The timing is right, cider being a summer thing. It makes you smile, which after all is what you want from a boozy drink. It's probably spot on for the target audience as well, which appears to include me, because it has been, as the spot says, a long day, and for some reason or other, I have started thinking about a nice refreshing pint of cider after work. Job done. A close second for me is Nike 'Puppet Chalk'. Now I admit I'm not the target audience. I don't know anything about basketball, ( apart from the obvious ), and I'm not entirely sure I care to. But in a world of sports product marketing that by and large features overpaid superstars showing off, the puppet version of LeBron James goading roommate Kobe Bryant with cries of "20 dollar chinese food" and "Beef and broccoli" is suitably bonkers. BEST PRINT The work for Xyladecor woodcare makes me smile. A bit cheeky, a bit irreverent, and not a bloke painting a fence in sight. I also like the nice, simple but clever visual for Dinu kitchen towels. So absorbent it turns grapes to raisins. BEST OUTDOOR The digital outdoor work for Pedigree is fabulous. Engaging, provocative and touching. The Pedigree campaign has been consistently good over the past few years, and this is another belter. Nomis Sports are a classic example of a challenger brand. Out gunned and outspent on the high street, they are taking the high street to the amateur football player. Brave, intelligent, resourceful. In these tough times, that's probably the best way to be. Good luck to them. Now, it's been a long day, cider anyone? Guest judge: Jonathan Cude, CCO of McKinney, Durham This week's guest judge is Jonathan Cude, partner & chief creative officer of McKinney in Durham, North Carolina.Jonathan was promoted to executive creative director in 2007, making him just the fifth creative head in McKinney's 40-year history. He joined the agency from Wieden+Kennedy where he wrote for Nike and Diet Coke. He showed he could handle a broad range of styles from the humor of Nike 'Streaker', Creativity's runner-up for spot of the year, to the inspiring drama of the 2003 Cannes Gold Lion winner, Nike 'Before'. Over the past four years, the teams that Jonathan has co-led at McKinney have won a Cannes Lion, two One Show Pencils, an ANDY, an Athena, two Yahoo! Creative Summit Purple Chairs, four IAB MIXX awards (including the inaugural best of show), and two Buzz awards, while driving business performance worthy of three EFFIEs for efforts including Audi A3 'Art of the H3ist' and Sony BRAVIA 'The World's First Television for Men and Women'. A native of Arlington, Virginia, 'Cude', as his friends and colleagues call him, has a passion for Nikes and Paul Smith shirts. But the love of his life is his 7-year-old daughter, Bella. The TV channel bumpers created as part of HSBC's sponsorship of the Lions tour are simple, fun and very well executed. I imagine the target loved seeing these short clips as much or more than the programming that ran on either side of them.... BEST TV The TV channel bumpers created as part of HSBC's sponsorship of the Lions tour are simple, fun and very well executed. I imagine the target loved seeing these short clips as much or more than the programming that ran on either side of them. Insightful, engaging and entertaining. Can't ask for much more than that. The spot for the newspaper in Helsinki (Ilta Sanomat) had a great twist on the sad death of the newspaper. The cinematography, casting and production values were dead on. The depiction of the web as "not having it all" was a clever poke at technology and "progress." I'll give the Pepsi spot an honorable mention for production effort. Imagine it was a beast to do. BEST PRINT The HP ad for the print refills make its point in a fun, simple and beautiful way. It's art. The ad for Petit Bateau I liked because it told me something I didn't know. Namely that they have clothes for 495 month olds, like me. And the baby had pretty blue eyes. I'm a sucker for those. BEST OUTDOOR The idea for the eco consultant business cards was brilliant. Not OOH in the traditional sense, but who cares. What green loving eco geek wouldn't be proud to hand out a piece of trash with his digits stamped on it like that? The McDonald's video board in Piccadilly Circus was pretty cool. I'm not sure how people were invited to participate in the idea (I can imagine some agency staffers on the ground helping them along?). Nonetheless a fun idea, well done. And right for the brand. Honorable mention on the Tonka Truck execution for the sheer scale of it. Gotta love a big, fat pile of dirt made into an ad for something. Guest judge: Steve Red, CCO, Red Tettemer, Philadelphia This week's guest judge is Steve Red, president and chief creative officer of Red Tettemer, Philadelphia. Steve is an art director who writes and a creative director who has finally learned to creatively direct, instead of just doing it himself. As co-founder of Red Tettemer - the Philadelphia-based indie creative agency - Steve has helped shape, build and nurture a bunch of marquee brands. He believes people are smart and advertising should be, too, and the only real martini is made with gin. Some day, long after his kids' teenage years, he'll settle down and start painting again, which is what his Dad says he should have done all along. In his role as Red Tettemer's chief creative officer, Steve touches everything that goes out of the agency's door from a creative and strategic perspective. During his career he's had a blast working on brands including: Adventure Aquarium, Bravo, CNN, Cartoon Network, Comcast, ESPN, Five Below, kajeet, Pennsylvania Tourism, Optimum Online, Optimum Voice, Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey, Roy Rogers, PBS Kids Sprout, Time Warner, Tribe.net, Tween Brands, The Weather Channel and Zany Brainy. Best: Spa Barisart. Good fun to watch. It immersed me (sorry, couldn't help myself) and it made me thirsty for water with "action" in it... BEST TV Best: Spa Barisart. Good fun to watch. It immersed me (sorry, couldn't help myself) and it made me thirsty for water with "action" in it. Pull in and persuade that's what advertising is all about, right? Runner up: Channel 4 'Britain's forgotten children'. I have children, so sorry, this got me. BEST PRINT Best: Sanyo. Nice visual solution. I'm an art director by trade so I like a picture that tells a story. Maybe not the freshest way at it but certainly crisp and to the point. Runner up: Ducolax. Come on. Rats running from poop. That's funny and effective. BEST OUTDOOR Best: Revive. Love it. Like advertising Haiku. So minimal, simple and clear (wait Haiku isn't clear). Whatever... very sweet outdoor. Runner up: HP. Best campaign I've ever liked featuring Hitler. Guest judge: Lance Vinning, DDB San Francisco This week's guest judge is Lance Vinning, a creative director at DDB San Francisco. He's worked at Taxi Toronto, The Jupiter Drawing Room and FCB South Africa (as a Group head) on accounts such as Toyota, Landrover, Viagra and Covenant house. He's been recognised by D&AD, Clios, The One show and Cannes (including winning the Grand Prix for Lego.)A very clear 1st place is the Lovely, Brilliant Coke 'Gremlins' ad. It's got a wonderful French feel about it.... BEST TV This was the stand out category for me. A very clear 1st place is the Lovely, Brilliant Coke 'Gremlins' ad. It's got a wonderful French feel about it. What a joy is would be if our TV channels were full of ads like this. 2nd Place goes to the T-mobile piece, It's beautiful in its simplicity and un-addy-ness. I think it would have fallen flat if there was any branding at the event. BEST PRINT This is a hard one, not a lot is standing out for me. 1st place: Olla tells us something we already know about condoms in a cute memorable way. It's well art directed and nicely illustrated. Pacifico Insurance gets 2nd for it's a well art directed and an imaginative execution of what Pacifico does. BEST OUTDOOR 1st goes to Publicis, Mumbai for Garnier 'Shade', a very clever way of illustrating the product benefit and in the process being useful to the public. 2nd a lot more difficult, but I would go with Publicis, Mumbai again for clickjobs.com. A little smart idea. Scrabble is a good idea but I have seen it before, albeit on a smaller scale. Guest judge: Noah Regan, CD, Three Drunk Monkeys, Sydney This week's guest judge is Noah Regan, creative director at Three Drunk Monkeys, Sydney. Prior to this, Noah worked under Jeremy Craigen at DDB London, creating numerous award-winning campaigns for Harvey Nichols, Volkswagen and Marmite. During Noah's tenure, DDB London ranked third at the 2008 Cannes International Advertising Festival. Before his London stint, Noah resided at Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney for 8 years, winning numerous international awards including Cannes, The One Show and Clio. His work for Toyota, Lexus, Emirates, Lion Nathan and the United Nations was vital in the agency being named Campaign Brief's Australian Agency of the Year a record three times in a row. In 2008, Noah was awarded Grand Prix in the Graphis Advertising annual and in 2007, was the world's most featured Art Director in Luerzer's Archive Magazine.STOP PRESS - Last week Noah received three Nominations and four 'in book' at D&AD a few weeks back, he became the father of the most beautiful boy in the world. Hello (advertising) world, and can I say what an honor it is to judge today. TIMBERLAND is my pick of the week. Nature giving back is old. This executes it a lot better than the many I've seen. Some amazing imagery and lovely score... BEST TV I've started to write this little piece while sitting at home watching another variation on a self improvement/makeover show on telly. I just saw some dude admit to drinking 12 cans of coke during the day, 2 litres when he gets home and another 2-3 litres in the evening. No wonder he only has three teeth. I saw a guy on TV in the UK who only ate crisps and slices of cheese. He said if he felt like a full meal he'd melt the cheese on the crisps. I wonder if brands pay for that sort of placement. Now more than ever consumers need some quality brand communication I reckon. Is it OK in this brand new non-traditional, multi channel world to say I love watching a brilliantly funny, sad, smart or silly 30 second ad? And is it ok to still especially love turning the page in a newspaper and be stopped dead in my tracks by a great press ad? It happens very rarely these days unfortunately. Please, feed me less garbage and more quality. Make me think, not blindly consume. If not for me, for the sake of my newborn (he's the most beautiful boy in the world by the way). Ok, let's get into it shall we... A good week overall. I had no strong objections with execution on any really. If I were to be overly critical, I'd say looking a little deeper I found that no one spot had an amazing and original strategy at its core. TABASCO says to me that the sauce is hot. I know that. It says it in an entertaining way however, which saves it. The reverse technique is old but it works here so that's fine. My main criticism is where it ends up... or starts. He runs out of the restaurant and straight into a stadium as a streaker. Streaking is overdone, I feel if he ran somewhere real and weird, or interesting rather than somewhere in ad land and obvious the spot would be my pick. But he didn't. TIMBERLAND is my pick of the week. Nature giving back is old. This executes it a lot better than the many I've seen. Some amazing imagery and lovely score. The little girl, the gondola juxtaposed against the raging sea - typical genius from Noam Murro. My ex-girlfriends would probably appear with horns spitting fireballs though. Something about ITV just misses the mark. Beautiful shots and score, but it's a little disingenuous. As hard as it tries it just doesn't grab me emotionally. I wish I'd seen this while I was living in London though. If only I'd known earlier that you could clear those heavy skies simply by throwing rocks at it. 12 year olds wearing hoodies and bearing rocks are usually to be avoided. SIERA MIST RUBY SPLASH undoubtedly has the most unique strategy. However, like the bloke who was drinking ten litres of Coca Cola a day, too much of a good thing can be a problem. Every comedic cliche imaginable - midgets, monkeys, funny walks, safari suits and so on and on. I'm sure that was the intention, but still. I do appreciate the silly absurdity of it all though. I've seen a stack of VIAGRA ads in the past. A few awesome ones from TAXI if my memory serves. So, it's hard (small giggle to self) to give this spot the nod in that context. It's good, but for VIAGRA the brief I reckon is laugh out loud or find a completely new way in. SALVATION ARMY is my runner up. I like the simple honesty of it. The nice framing and documentary style. Credit for avoiding showing the obvious raising of fists, and screams and general shock tactics. It captures the tone of Salvation Army well too. Tomorrow, I'll drop my change into that guy's bucket that stands outside the ferry every morning. BEST PRINT I was a little disappointed with print. Some clever visuals but basic strategy with large over-retouched image and small logo in the corner does not cut the mustard any more for me. The two executions with black and white shots stand out a mile. VESPA is my pick by far. Love the old Woodstock shot in the ORANGE BLUE one. It's my runner-up. BEST OUTDOOR There was some brilliant outdoor this week. The strongest category of all three. It's nice to see that the oldest medium still provides an opportunity to create some eye-catching awesomeness. 50 CARS and INVISIBLE would certainly stop me in my tracks. 50 CARS offers me a little more food for thought. Points for scale and execution too. INVISIBLE runner-up. POWERBIRD second runner-up. Guest judge: Dennis Ryan, CCO of Element 79, Chicago This week's guest judge is Dennis Ryan, chief creative officer of Element 79, Chicago.Dennis has been making stuff up in Chicago for nearly twenty-five years. First as a copywriter for Needham Harper and Steers, later as an ECD and head of the Worldwide Creative Council for JWT and for the past seven years as a principal at Element 79. He has dreamed up ideas for the world's best known brands, including Budweiser, Gatorade, Frito-Lay, Discover, Miller, Kraft, Nestle, Lowes, Blockbuster and Amway. As a founder of Element 79, Dennis drives new business, helping attract clients such as Frito-Lay, Alberto Culver, Lowe's, Supercuts, Harris Bank, Amway and Celebrity Cruises. As he navigates this ever-changing industry, he blogs at www.collective-thinking.com The title 'Best Ads' sets a standard, which - while I had nothing to do with the creation of any of the highlighted work - nonetheless saddles me with a measure of responsibility for these to be great. And yet greatness is relative; what I deem superlative, others may consider merely so-so. Such are the realities of our subjective world... Philips 'Carousel'. This is deeply engrossing, very rich storytelling that literally pull viewers in, through, around and back to the start of the story through its virtuoso visual effects. BEST TV Philips 'Carousel'. This is deeply engrossing, very rich storytelling that literally pull viewers in, through, around and back to the start of the story through its virtuoso visual effects. But what exactly is the story? What does it mean? With no branding, no supers and no copy, one can only wonder... This site identifies that it is from Philips, so does the stopped-motion reference some new pause feature? A crisp resolution that can literally freeze action? And why all the gun violence? Why cops? Why a hospital? And what's with those spooky clowns? This deeply-layered narrative is a tour de force, yet I have absolutely no idea what it's for and that's a dangerous strategy in these times. Then again, I've already spent well over a hundred words writing about it and engagement is a perfect strategy for these times. RUNNER UP: R&V Insurance 'Ballet Dancer' The other ads each have their strengths, but this spot's charming, highly-engaging portrait of an abject creative failure appeals to the awkward artist in all of us. And it takes true craftsmanship to mock someone while simultaneously letting them retain their dignity. Nicely done. BEST PRINT Frankly, I didn't get one of these ads, and a few others felt like they were striving more for awards than persuasion. That said, Penguin Books 'Gripping' was simply breathtaking. It captures the experience of a truly engrossing read, when time stands still, and people and distractions disappear. RUNNER UP Autocop 'Parking lot'. Few creatives can tell a compelling story in one frame - this does. Simple, pointed, perfect. BEST OUTDOOR TV3 'Interrogation'. I love when context shapes the creative idea, and using the billboard light as a police interrogation tool helps sell the show 'Law and Order'. This idea is elegant and appropriate, and far more interactive than a mere screen grab. One ad that is undeniably clever yet seems highly ill-considered is for Sandisk. To get across that their 4GB card has space for 4,000 photos, they hand out oversized bags to people picking up their photo prints. The agency boasts that the bags "...transformed customers into walking billboards". That seems pretty selfish to me. As a consumer, I'd resent carrying a wasteful, ill-sized bag that benefits some marketer, not me. Given our crowded, parity world, brands must be far more generous than that these days. Guest judge: Joel Clement, deputy ECD, Saatchi & Saatchi Asia This week's guest judge is Joel Clement, regional head of art and deputy regional ECD of Saatchi & Saatchi Asia.From the rural mountains of New Hampshire, to art school in NYC, to Carmichael Lynch in Minneapolis, to Goodby Silverstein in San Francisco, Joel Clement just kept heading west. Standing at the edge of the Pacific Ocean, Joel realized he'd have to board a plane to continue this journey and so he bought a one-way ticket to Singapore, ironically ending up in the 'East'. After several enlightening gigs throughout Asia, he settled into a very rewarding role as Saatchi's regional head of art, working closely with Andy Greenaway to raise the creative standard across their offices. In his spare time, which there isn't much of really, he and his wife can be found in the rural mountains of north Thailand where they are designing and building their dream house. Roots at last. You can see what else Joel has been up to by visiting http://joelclement.blogspot.com/ In the TV, there were two that called out to me. BEST: One is for an Anti-Human Trafficking effort. A decent strategy here led to a story whose ending I didn't see coming.... BEST TV This morning a rooster on my balcony woke me up. Not that a rooster yelling at 6 a.m. is so strange, but the fact that I live in the central business district of Bangkok- an overwhelmingly concrete city of 10 million people- makes it strange. Not to mention, my condo is on the 8th floor. I've stopped trying to figure it out. Anyway, what I am getting at is: today I am of the mind to be wowed. A lot of work went into the pieces here this week, and I apologize if I fail to mention your efforts. The stronger work was in the TV arena and the INTERACTIVE space, with PRINT and OUTDOOR lacking any urban roosters. In the TV, there were two that called out to me. BEST: One is for an Anti-Human Trafficking effort. A decent strategy here led to a story whose ending I didn't see coming. I believe this spot will be effective in forcing people in more developed nations than my own to realize that the problem is in their backyard as well, and desperately needs dealing with. Well-shot and well-paced film. VERY HONORABLE MENTION: The spot for VB 'Raise A Glass' may or may not win awards - but that is its beauty. I believe this spot wasn't written with shiny metal as the goal. It is a real tribute to real people. Its strength lies in how real it is. It's probably the most real thing I've ever seen in a piece of advertising, and I salute the creatives and the client for that. You can't help but connect with these people. Very well directed and very well edited. The website it leads to is also a nicely done touch point that rounds out the effort. BEST PRINT In PRINT, it was tough. If you've judged a few award shows, you will have a tangible sense of how stiff the competition really is. Not blown away here is what I'm saying, but it is BEST ADS, so, with regards to relativity, I need to pick the best of the lot then. BEST: Thousands of ads have been done for quit smoking campaigns, and I hope there are a million more. The competition is tough with this subject, so a lot of the work will fall into the average category. But I'll give the best of this week's print to the Smoking Lungs ad for its arresting imagery and in the hopes that one of my co-workers who smokes outside my office window is convinced to stop. RUNNER UP: Not a big winner in my opinion, but the Kit-Kat Rubik's cube has elements of a decent ad: simplicity, a fairly arresting visual, and a nod to the brand's long time equity, so it surpasses the rest of the print ads of this week. BEST OUTDOOR In OUTDOOR, of the six on the table, no metal unfortunately. But there were two worth mentioning. A bit of a toss up, but the best will go to the one that seemed more painstaking to produce. BEST: The Body-O-Matic (I think they really have these in Japan) does have some 'eye-catchy' merit, which one would hope works on the intended target of laborers in need of a safety reminder, but it may not go far enough for the other target, award show judges who have had the pleasure of a few great vending machine renditions through the past years. But alas it is a decent attempt at irreverence for what could be a boring subject. RUNNER UP: Citi Towing. Not a bad stunt. Not genius either, but not bad. It could have been pushed, especially the art direction. BEST INTERACTIVE Not normally commented on here, but I've lobbied Michael and Kim to allow me to mention a few in the INTERACTIVE category as I feel this is ever growing in importance. Most of us don't want to be a Printosaurus clinging to two-dimensional thoughts when there is a whole undefined world of persuasion out there evolving. BEST: And I think this one really deserves the 'best' title: The Sound Advice Project. It literally makes sure your words about drugs stay with your kids. It works like this: Parent talks to kid about the dangers of drugs. Parent records the message online (preferably along with child). The sound waves are molded into a bracelet and mailed out. Child wears it everywhere as a reminder. What works beyond the participatory aspect and opportunity to talk is that the bracelet is something cool that a kid would actually wear, as opposed to a (ahem) dopey t-shirt that reads 'just say no'. RUNNER UP: Another one that truly earns its place here is the Paper Cut Chainsaw. Yes it's just a simple little thing, but once downloaded it's a message that you'll be forced to consider every day. Guest judge: Darren Spiller, chief creative officer, Fallon US This week's guest judge is Darren Spiller, who has just been appointed chief creative officer of Fallon US, based in Minneapolis. He comes from the regional creative director gig at Publicis Mojo Australia and New Zealand. Darren's career has spanned over three countries, two of which have been with Publicis Mojo, where he started in Auckland as head of art. After moving back to Australia he rose to regional ECD and also sits on the Publicis Global Board. Over the years Darren has won numerous international awards at Cannes, The One Show, Clio and D&AD for Nike, Nestle Drumstick and Toyota to name a few. My top pick is Honda - a little story about a brand who knows who it is.... BEST TV My top pick is Honda - a little story about a brand who knows who it is. Honda sets the bar higher on tone, it knows what it wants to say and exactly how it should say it. It is a company big on ideas and small on arrogance. Yeah! They are doers and they do this kind of thing very well. It feels like a message from Honda. Runner up is Momax. Obviously there is a lot going on under the table in this spot but the subplot only enhances the simple story. I like it when two unrelated topics collide to make the point. The result is unexpected. BEST PRINT Best is Sour Marbels. My kids often con me into trying sour lollies and then have a good laugh at my expense. I often felt exactly what this wonderful illustration conveys; my eyes are watering, full strength sour. Runner up is Levi's. There is no secret to how these prints add works very simple and straight to the point. A great product demonstration without even using the product. BEST OUTDOOR My top pick is Jeep. Love the use of the medium. When you are driving you can't help but read the sign to make sure you are on the right road and this time round I think jeep definitely is. OH! The possibilities of where one could go. Runner up is MaxFashion. Say no more, this visual says everything it has to. I don't think it ever been simpler. Guest judge: Matthew Keon, creative director, Fallon London This week's guest judge is Matthew Keon, a creative director at Fallon London. He has done work for Sony, Cadbury Wispa, The Natural Confectionary Company, and Cheestrings to name a few. Before London Matthew had his own agency in Sydney called If Your Mind Was A Room from which he produced a bodyspray and published a book. Matthew often likes to get the work experience kid of choice to write his bios. This one was written by Steven Cheng who will continue to speak in the pseudo third person. Matthew enjoys licking envelopes and shoulder pads on a woman's jacket. There is not much else you need to know other than he supports creativity as a notion and likes good work just was much as everyone else. A lot of funny and powerful stuff. A kind of theme that emerged for a few of the spots was song. But my favourite was Wilkinson 'Mow the lawn'..... BEST TV A lot of funny and powerful stuff. A kind of theme that emerged for a few of the spots was song. But my favourite was Wilkinson 'Mow the lawn'. A funny euphemism turned into song. Brave and to the point, it made me smile. BEST PRINT Lot of strong visual stuff this week and strong ideas. But my favourite was Stihl just for its simplicity and visual reference to a well known phrase. BEST OUTDOOR I admire the Earth Hour execution and there were some neat ideas in the money billboard and mattel visual. Clothes in Closets was a nice idea I can see working well and the Broadway fashion visually came to life. But for me the WWF interactive posters were the most interesting and rewarding and so get my vote. Guest judge: Richard Gorodecky, ECD, Amsterdam Worldwide This week's guest judge is Richard Gorodecky, the executive creative director of Amsterdam Worldwide (previously Strawberry Frog). Prior to A.W. he spent almost nine years at Wieden and Kennedy Amsterdam. He has created award-winning campaigns for some of the biggest brands in the world including Nike, Coca-Cola, Chevrolet, Electronic Arts, Wyborowa Wodka and Asics Onitsuka Tiger. Richard is a fanatical outdoorsman and has fly-fished, been assaulted by bugs and got entirely lost in some of the most beautiful places in the world. He likes to write about these experiences and his rants sometimes appear in obscure publications. Richard recently appeared as a guest judge on the TV show America's Next Top Model and has since stopped trying to make sense of the world. He lives with his wife and daughter in Amsterdam. STIHL. Simple, funny and well made. I'm not sure if it makes me want to run out and buy a chainsaw, but I think that might have more to do with the fact that I live in the centre of Amsterdam. I reckon if I had a tree, I'd cut it down with a Stihl this very afternoon....... BEST TV STIHL. Simple, funny and well made. I'm not sure if it makes me want to run out and buy a chainsaw, but I think that might have more to do with the fact that I live in the centre of Amsterdam. I reckon if I had a tree, I'd cut it down with a Stihl this very afternoon. The thing that lets this spot down for me though is the product shot at the end - that could have used a bit of love. RAY-BAN. Do I like it? It's not bad (said with nonchalant shoulder shrugging). Would I forward it to a friend? Not unless I had friends that were members of some kind of chameleon-appreciation society. This is a viral. If you're relying on people sending an ad to their friends, it needs to be truly great. For me, this one is just okay. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL. It's pretty. But pretty doesn't make me pick up the phone, sign anything, or reach for my wallet. CHINA ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION. Beautiful animation. I really want this ad to work harder. I love the way it looks, but I just don't believe it'll have the impact needed. EARTH HOUR. So, based on me taking a Stihl chainsaw to Amnesty International and the China Environment Protection Foundation, you'd imagine Earth Hour is in for a slashing. Actually, I found it charming. It's well made, has a nice soundtrack, and is memorable, but most importantly, it left me wanting to know more. Job done. If I'm completely honest however, the cynic in me wondered how much electricity would be used washing all of those white sheets afterwards. HUMANA. What's going on? Is it open season for charity ads this week? Right then. What do I think of this? It's kind of dumb, but in a nice way. The execution is a little clunky, but charming. The message and call to action is clear. I like it. I reckon first place goes to Stihl as DDB actually had to sell something that didn't come preloaded with emotion, and this week's runner-up is either Earth Hour or Humana. I think I'll go with Earth Hour, but then I'd give all of the sheets from the shoot to Humana. That seems fair. BEST PRINT BEAT BULLYING. This is great. Simple and strong. SURFRIDER. So the kid is listening to a bottle because there are no shells left because there's no life in the sea. Okay. It doesn't have much cut-through for me. Wouldn't it have been cooler if the kid had grown this huge bottle-shaped ear because he'd drunk too much polluted seawater? I would sign up. I don't want to grow a huge ear. My headphones wouldn't fit. TIMEX. So the line on this ad is 'conversation starters'. It works for me. I'd like to start a conversation. How about: "What the bloody hell does this ad mean?" Or another conversation starter could be: "Is the person who did the retouching currently being treated for acute conjunctivitis in both eyes?" BIBLOAMIGOS. It's a great looking ad. It pulled me in. Would it make me want to see an exhibition about Red Riding Hood? Quite possibly. COLGATE JUNIOR. I remember hearing a story about a guy who invented a toothpaste that made your teeth reflect light. I thought it was a great invention. Not only could you have sparkling teeth, but you could also avoid being run over at night by walking at oncoming traffic grinning like a maniac. Why am I telling you this? Because I thought it was interesting. Unfortunately, I don't feel the same way about the ad. CHINA ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION. It's so beautiful. I really love the art direction. I have no idea what this ad says, but I can only hope it's as well written. Will it motivate people to get involved in the China Environment Protection Foundation? Unfortunately, I have my doubts. First place in print goes to Beat Bullying, with Bibloamigos as the runner-up. BEST OUTDOOR JOHN WEST. Funny and stupid. I don't have anything against funny and stupid. LUNG CANCER FOUNDATION. According to this ad, smoking kills. I reckon that's going to put people right off. AMI. This is smart and clever. Smart and clever is good. KRISPY KREME. I don't know where to go with this. One side of me likes the ballsy strategy of earning through activity, and the other side simply hates the association of donuts as a reward for exercise. Can I pass on this one? SBS. It's fun. I'd notice it. EARTH HOUR. I like it a lot. Right up my street. This should have generated a lot of coverage if it had been PR'd well. This week's outdoor winner is Earth Hour, and AMI can take the runner-up prize. Guest judge: Russell Ramsey, executive CD, JWT London This week's guest judge is Russell Ramsey, executive creative director of JWT London. He began his career at Saatchi & Saatchi, where he worked on brands including Allied Breweries, NSPCC, Tesco and British Airways. In the summer of 1990 he moved to BBH London and rose rapidly through the ranks, he was made a creative director in 1998, and chief creative director in 2005. During his time at BBH, Russell was the most awarded creative director at the agency writing and overseeing work such as Levi's 'Twist' and Audi 'Bull'. His trophy cabinet holds a D&AD Black Pencil, 8 D&AD Yellow Pencils, 2 Cannes Gold Lions and numerous awards from around the world. He oversaw the launch of a TV channel and various multi platform communications for Audi. He was also creative director on the Lynx Pulse launch which saw a number one record and an unprecedented amount of PR and uplift in sales. In 2008 Russell served on the panel judging Outdoor at Cannes and also the Campaign Big Awards. Born and brought up in South Shields, just outside Newcastle, Russell is still a committed supporter of the city's football club. Best TV: VisaTells a simple story in a relaxed and engaging way..... BEST TV Best TV: VisaTells a simple story in a relaxed and engaging way. Shot with an effortless style it makes Visa debit seem like the obvious next step in technology without getting gimicky or techy. TV runner up: CastrolStands out because its single minded. BEST PRINT Best print: OlayHow to get Brad Pitt into one of your ads without paying. Clever, neat, topical, well art directed and with a huge claim. Print runner up: Viking silent mowers Graphic and clever. BEST OUTDOOR Best outdoor: Forest chaseAmbient that's cheap and easy to do comes at a premium. The clothes are the stars of the show in this eye catching idea. Outdoor runner up: Different strokes magazine Impactful images you can't ignore. Guest judge: Ronald Wohlman, global CD, LoweWorldwide Ronald Wohlman has been promising to judge Bestads for years. But is never off a plane long enough to do so.It's a good thing today's flight has been cancelled. He is currently the global executive creative director of LoweWorldwide. A role that sees him in a different country every week. A tremendously exhausting, yet incredibly rewarding and satisfying position to hold. Ronald loves the opportunity he gets to work with creatives, directors, photographers and production companies all of over the world: "They teach me so much about their countries in such a modern, creative and immediate way. And of course take me to the best restaurants." Before flying for Lowe, Ronald ran the in-house ad agency for SonyMusic NY. Exciting and glamorous days indeed. Bob Dylan and Cyndi Lauper remain his most difficult clients. Ozzy Osbourne his most loveable. Before that gig Ronald was in big agencies in Johannesburg, Toronto and New York, winning all the expected awards and learning the craft of the business. When he isn't flying, he lives in London with his very understanding, wife and two kids. Puma: Lift I really love the artistry and the theatrical treatment of this simple story...... BEST TV Puma: Lift I really love the artistry and the theatrical treatment of this simple story. I love the choreography. It feels fresh and unlike anything I've seen before. Brilliant soundtrack. So good to see creatives pushing the envelope and trying new things. I'm gonna give this my vote for best spot. Lexus: Assembled While the promise is that the car will ultimately reinvent how you move thru the world, sadly the advertising doesn't feel like it's reinventing anything. But of course, a lovely production. UP Alumni Association: Riles Very interesting. I'd be interested to know what effect this spot had. It didn't have me reaching for my checkbook or looking into the work of the UP Alumni Association. And believe me, I'm a sensitive guy. NoNonsense: Bees Very well executed nonsense. Very engaging. Sprite: The Return of JD Quench. Hmmm. This genre should be retired. Come on people! There are just no surprises anymore. That said, it is well executed. AMF: The Race I really wanted to love this spot. And I almost did. But the ending sorta left me flat. Huh? BEST PRINT MTV I love it. Really fun. And so on brand and relevant. This one gets my vote. The Terrorist Nice clean execution, but the ol "twist on the subway map" has been done to death. Samsung Yup. TitanicNice execution. PavlovaCool. TeamCool. BEST OUTDOOR SC Johnson:I love it. Well done. You guys get my vote! Now that's what I call engaging, effective, fun outdoor with a very sharp brand message. Financial Review: Cute. Knarf:Nice little idea, nicely executed. Virgin Radio: I don't care enough. Jump! Jump! Land Rover: I'm still not sure they make equipment and apparel. Clover: not gonna stop me. Guest judge: Matt Shepherd-Smith, CEO, TBWA\London This week's guest judge is Matt Shepherd-Smith, who was appointed CEO of TBWALondon in February 2006 at the age of 38, following a meteoric rise to the top during his 16 years in the industry.Since 1989 he has progressed through top London agencies Still Price Lintas, Leo Burnett and Bates Dorland. Then in 1998 he took the position of board director at TBWALondon, presiding over the Nissan account. In 2000 he became head of account management and group director and in 2005 he was promoted to the position of sole Managing Director. Matt ensures that Lee Clow's Media Arts mantra of "being experts at the art of exploiting media" is a living breathing reality at TBWALondon, making them the most progressive agency in London and not just another advertising agency. I'm tempted to give my vote to Goodby's for their Comcast ad.... BEST TV I'm not counting the first two here (Purina Alpo and RIVA) because they're each about eleven hours long. And Alpo is a direct attempt to take our Pedigree positioning. Too late. We're for dogs, not you. The Heineken and Trocaire spots are both OK, but they lack the impact deserving of such an emotive charity, or a beer with such immense advertising heritage. And so I'm tempted to give my vote to Goodby's for their Comcast ad. The juxtaposition of the childlike simplicity of the animation and story against the technically complicated subject of high speed cable services is great and very engaging - I love it. But although it's nothing like as watchable, the most disruptive idea here is for Virgin Mobile. Putting an artist on trial for subjecting us to shit music flies in the face of all the happy clappy music promises from so many other mobile operators. It also raises debate and therefore engages the audience in a conversation. It's different and it's good. BEST PRINT Unfortunately for the Mitsubishi ad, I live in the UK, home of Land Rover, and home therefore of much brilliant Land Rover advertising. Some of it with an analogy between car and animal. Likewise the same story for Rin; Persil washes whiter too, so I'm afraid these aren't original enough for me. On the other hand I am struck by the simplicity and beauty of the Exact Pregnancy Test. It's striking, but its message isn't as clear as idea behind my favourite ad here, the Bosch Screwdriver. Both are beautifully art directed, but I like the simple visual of the twisting wood that says everything you need to know without a headline, just a discreet line of copy. BEST OUTDOOR It's great that judging an 'outdoor' category these days is about so much more than posters. It's about judging interactivity and brands that are finding ways to engage with the public and get noticed in fresh ways. There are loads of good examples here... the Blacklighter pen is good, the Miracle acne visual illusion idea is nice, and I really like the humans as fleas for Jakpetz. But the most impactful, interactive, smart example of media arts here is for Silk Air. Taking over a cinema as a flight experience has huge cut through with a captive audience. The use of seats, aisles, stewardesses, safety films etc... Brilliant. Even if it is, er, Indoor. Guest judge: Paul Nagy, CD, Clemenger BBDO Wellington This week's guest judge is Paul Nagy, creative director of Clemenger BBDO, Wellington, New Zealand. He has been recognised in all major international award shows - most recently receiving back-to-back gold and silver Lions at Cannes in 2007 and 2008. Paul's work includes the 'Sleep before you drive' Crashed Beds print campaign for NZTA, a billboard that was sent from one side of New Zealand to other (in over 300 pieces) via carrier pigeon for Omaka Aviation Museum, and the development of live text messaging to a website to promote the dangers of distracted drivers. He loves fly fishing, spending time with his wife and two daughters, and long walks on the beach.BEST TV Clean coal... I love a good oxymoron. Kinda reminds me of the 'Diet Coke' I have with my extra large Maccas meal deal. As such I chose Alliance For Climate Protection because it takes the piss out of phrases like 'clean coal', greenwashing and advertising in general. That line: "...harnesses the awesome power of the word: CLEAN" kills me. Understated and tinder dry as you'd expect from the Coen Brothers (and I love that sparkly, turd-like lump of coal that whizzes around the screen like Tinkerbell). As a runner-up I went with the Milk ad because it has a lovely, simple insight at its heart. But I couldn't finish without tipping my hat to the 'Good Knight' bug spray ad... A blindfolded guy throwing knives at a delighted, doomed midget... genius. BEST PRINT I've seen quite a few freeze-frame, smashed porcelain ads recently (we did one ourselves), but for a guy who loves a strong coffee, the Mambocino ad stood out for me. Delivers the prop in a blink of the eye, and I can't believe I wrote that. For a runner-up I like the 'Fast flowers' ad for 123fleurs because it tells a great story in a single image and I've been there. BEST OUTDOOR Loved the outdoor campaign for Canon's image stabilizer. Simple and engaging way to communicate the benefit of the product. For a runner-up I chose the TAM Viagens bookmarks - a clever reminder that, strangely, sometimes the best experiences in life aren't to be found 40 centimeters in front of your face. Guest judge: Ant Keogh, Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne
GUEST JUDGE /BEST AD OF THE WEEK
AUSTRALIA
February 24, 2009 23:14 (Edited: February 17, 2023 04:19)
 This week's guest judge is Ant Keogh, a Creative Director at Clemenger BBDO Melbourne. He's worked at various Australian advertising agencies including George Patterson Y&R and Mojo Melbourne. Ant has won over 100 advertising awards, his most recognised work being Carlton Draught 'Made From Beer' campaign including 'The Big ad', which was recently included in the Powerhouse Museum's 'Top 10 Greatest Australian Ads'. Mojo's Boags Draught ad is my favourite this week. It's just so nicely put together.... BEST TV Mojo's Boags Draught ad is my favourite this week. It's just so nicely put together. Lovely subtle direction. As it travelled around the office I heard a chorus of, "I wonder who directed it?" Answer: Steve Rogers. Based on a simple truth about the Tasmanian water, they take hyperbole to new levels, skimming dangerously close to over-promise or just-plain-lying, but luckily the comedy gets them by, I think. As runner-up I also liked the Easy Home Centre ad. Just a simple gag really. But funny and charming all the same. BEST PRINT I found this quite hard to choose but then I just thought: which ad would I like in my book most? I picked the Sky TV ad. Just simple, funny and well crafted. Next in line, I'd give it to the Noah Animal Cruelty ad. I'm often a bit dubious about these kind of campaigns where something you do in the ad hurts or helps a "victim" but, all the same, I think I would feel terrible when I pulled off that tab. It shows an instant and direct relationship between cosmetics and animal cruelty. I also liked the Horlicks ad for its simplicity. BEST OUTDOOR Mmm... lots of good stuff here. It's a bit of a toss up. I'll give it to Berger Paints. Then T-Mobile. The Crime stoppers ad is a great strategic insight too. Seems like it would work. And the Ben's Insect Repellent ad is fresh (in a retro kind of way). Guest judge: Matty Burton, creative head, Droga5 Australia
GUEST JUDGE /BEST AD OF THE WEEK
AUSTRALIA
February 18, 2009 02:29 (Edited: February 17, 2023 04:19)
 This week's guest judge is Matty Burton, creative head at Droga5 Australia. Originally at Droga5 New York, he worked across Honeyshed and the Million NYC projects. More recently he has moved to the Sydney office where he has already worked across the Quit in Style, Young Guns CFE.Previous to Droga5, Matty worked at Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand, WhybinTBWA Sydney and The Glue Society. His award haul includes two Titanium lions and a Grand Prix at Cannes. Quest for G. What a piece of awesome. This is the kind of idea I like to engage with..... BEST TV Favourite: Quest for G. What a piece of awesome. This is the kind of idea I like to engage with. It's entertaining, it has famous people in it and I'm pretty sure it also has a man's mouth mapped onto a goat's head. But most importantly it's funny. Runner up would be Orange, which is a lot of film for what is essentially a two for one movie deal. BEST PRINT Favourite: Unwired Broadband. Visually it is interesting and I think I have some idea of exactly where the ferret might be. Entertaining for a tough category. Runner up Levi's. This ad, although not the strongest by itself, has an idea that I can see running long past this execution. BEST OUTDOOR Favourite: The Brave One. Out of this bunch it stood out. It does make me wonder if he has a gun tapped to his back just in case. Guest judge: Sean Boyle, global planning director, JWT New York This week's guest judge is Sean Boyle, global planning director at JWT, New York. In a career spanning over two decades, he moved to the US from Saatchi & Saatchi where he spent four years as creative strategy director (Asia) based in Bangkok and China. He has also worked as planning director at BAM-SRVT and Principals in Sydney; at Bateyads in Singapore and in his hometown of Dublin at both CDP and O&M. In past iterations, Boyle has been a stand up comic (until everyone told him to sit down). In 1999, he produced a feature film - The Long Lunch, and has written a screenplay - Roaring Water, The Sack of Baltimore. Sean has won creative ad awards as a writer; and is a frequent lecturer and commentator on the subject of advertising and what-not. He has been described as an 'angry young man'; however he feels he's getting old and a bit tired of it all really, to continue to live up to that moniker. HOLY COW GUM! Things are changing creatively. It is a creeping change - a bit like the way Cow Gum silently fell by the wayside: we woke up one day and it was no more*.... HOLY COW GUM! Things are changing creatively. It is a creeping change - a bit like the way Cow Gum silently fell by the wayside: we woke up one day and it was no more*. The same thing is happening now on a much more important scale. In many respects, we are getting what we wished for. And, as usual when we're asked to react, our industry is coming up short. Clients, big clients, are slowly beginning to understand the need to up the creative ante if they wish their messages to be noticed and considered. The need to start going with their guts, rather than the opinions and advice of a local postman or schoolteacher. The P&G school of sledge-hammering their 'look what our better mousetrap does!' message has become both boring (was it ever not?), and in some-cases incapable of substantiation from a legal perspective. We were all brought up to eschew the commercial that 'could be for anything'. Relevance was deemed to be critical. "Emotion" was usually the bit at the end of the ad where a beaming mother hugs her rapscallion-y son and tussles his hair. At the leading edge today however, if it's good; funny; touching; magnificent... relevance doesn't really matter that much. Today, we say, 'isn't it great that it's for us'. Sony Bravia - 'Could be for anything (colourful), but isn't it great it's for us!' Cadbury Gorilla - 'Could be for anything, but isn't it great it's for us!' (And planners, please stop driveling on that the latter is 'all about Joy'. You're embarrassing us. It's a powerfully funny ad by Cadbury...end of over-analysis.) In first world markets, most punters with any sort of a brain between their ears know brands inside out; they know what the brand does and they don't want us to continue ramming this into their skulls ad nauseam. They are sick of us pedaling two million dollar pouring shots of chocolate weaving its way languidly over nuts and sultanas. They don't need another ad for a television claiming crispier pictures and the 'ultimate' wanky lifestyle. If they give a shit at all (and most punters truly, truly don't) they want to be challenged. They want a bit of charm, brilliance and humour. Otherwise they won't watch. Somewhat meaningless entertainment that engages, with your brand attached at the end, is the way of the future in mainstream media. Don't let any strategic nut-job tell you otherwise. We can get funkier and more relevant and "sell-y" when we go in-store, on-pack and on-line. Slowly but surely, clients are coming around and asking us to weave some magic that'll entertain (Purely that. Nothing else.) and make their brands noticed and loved by the masses. And here's what we do: when this marvelous opportunity is presented to us, we usually turn our mainstream ads into something from a bad TV sketch show; we bring kerrrazy animals to life; we pun away with puerile innuendo and we show slapstick humour, usually involving odious, beer-gutted men getting smacked in the gonads by a plank. Take a look at this year's Super Bowl offerings. Find me something that is truly amazing out of that lot. Hulu maybe came close. Careerbuilder wasn't bad. But they are all depressingly derivative. Look at the animal count: chimps, dalmatians, koalas, ostriches, mooseseses, rhinos, warthogs, water buffalo, lizards, clydesdales, horses that aren't clydesdales, dolphins, the list goes on. These are today's "highly creative" equivalent of Two C's in a K. A longwinded build-up to a mercifully short review. What stuff is striving to put something new on the table? Let us always celebrate the brave client. What makes you green with envy? What isn't some bogus piece-a-double-page-spread-crap for a shoe-polish out of South East Asia? Is there anything this week that doesn't look like it was made by a creative team that only do advertising because they weren't good enough to get into proper comedy? BEST TV I don't really understand the Asics spot. But despite the high animal count, it is a beautiful thing; wonderful, and hallucinogenic (it is after all from Holland). I suspect it will enter my dreams. The other spots? Laugh (and in one case, cry), I nearly did. BEST PRINT It's not going to win any metal... but Tango gets my nod because it is a) clearly real and b) intuitive, fluid (ahem) and gritty. It speaks with the naughty irreverence of this brilliantly stewarded brand. BEST OUTDOOR Let's hope the winner of the Scratchie Billboard has strong nails. This and the smoking thing were the most interesting to me - (oh, and a note to the Peruvians: you've an unfortunate, 'h'-missing typo in the idea's explanation that needs correcting). * To the many reading this that don't know what Cow Gum actually is, here's a random blog on the subject that explains all: http://www.davidthedesigner.com/davidthedesigner/2007/02/whatever_happen.html Guest judges: Scott Harris and Damien Eley, Mother London This week's guest judges are Scott Harris and Damien Eley, senior creatives at Mother, London. The pair began their careers at BMF in Australia. Next stop was Ogilvy, New York, where they spent four years. They moved to London to work at Mother three years ago and their latest offerings include a full-length musical for their client Pot Noodle and a dead dog as the spokesperson for the latest FRANK anti-cocaine campaign.It was fascinating for us to compare the ads from the Superbowl at the height of the dot-com boom where E*Trade proudly boasted it had wasted $2 million on their ad. Now they're dancing around the credit crunch and talking babies are always a safe bet... BEST TV It was fascinating for us to compare the ads from the Superbowl at the height of the dot-com boom where E*Trade proudly boasted it had wasted $2 million on their ad. Now they're dancing around the credit crunch and talking babies are always a safe bet. Funny babies, though. Monster.com is definitely better for us, however. A surprising and original gag, beautifully shot and its simplicity would have stood out. BEST PRINT The good old shoe deodoriser brief. Nice and simple ad without being overly inspiring. It was really hard to give a second place but the Aspirin ad just scraped through. BEST OUTDOOR Hate to give the award to the ad with the bum cheeks in it but it seems a nice solution for the product, TV6. It's a relevant demonstration and we're sure the media departments are still having nightmares about it. It was a close call between Rimmell and NZ House&Garden for second but we're going to give it to the mini billboards making people feel guilty about their crappy houses. We liked the thinking behind being able to tailor each ad to its specific environment. Guest judge: Remi Babinet, Founder & Chairman of BETC Paris This week's guest judge is Remi Babinet, Global CD - Euro RSCG; Founder & Chairman of BETC Paris. Remi began his career in 1985 as copywriter at BDDP (TBWA Paris) and quickly ranked among his generation's leading creative minds. In 1994, he left BDDP to found his own agency, BETC, with Eric Tong Cuong and Mercedes Erra.Named European Agency of the Year by Ad Age in 2002 and 'most creative French advertising agency' 11 times, BETC has carved out a brand image that is original, award-winning and resolutely modern for its many clients - Evian, Air France, Peugeot, Canal +, Petit Bateau, Lacoste, among others. Today, the company has 600 employees. As Chairman of BETC and Global Creative Director of Euro RSCG Worldwide, Remi has consistently challenged the traditional limits of creative advertising, opening up his agency up to new creative fields. In 2000, BETC launched the legendary PANIK electro/rock nights, and in 2003, Remi inaugurated the Passage du Desir, a space dedicated to fashion, design, painting and photography. Remi is also the Guest Editor of the Gunn Report this year, and is the author of the book BETC Paris, published worldwide this week. I have to admit that I have three favourites. Cadbury Eyebrow Dance, Careerbuilder.com Tips and T-Mobile Dance. Lots of questions of change here - changing your life, changing the daily routine. It's great to see three such crazy films.... BEST TV I have to admit that I have three favourites. Cadbury Eyebrow Dance, Careerbuilder.com Tips and T-Mobile Dance. Lots of questions of change here - changing your life, changing the daily routine. It's great to see three such crazy films. But Cadbury is the winner. I love the seriousness of the children. The gorilla was allowed to let himself go, but them, no. BEST PRINT Veet Bush wins it. Thank goodness someone thought of doing this as it is hilarious. Second comes the VW CrossPolo print. Again, it made me laugh. It's always good to laugh in 2009. BEST OUTDOOR My number one is HBO Wall of Secrets. I like the fact that you can open someone's head and hear what's going on inside. It's what I call trash. HBO excites our perverted curiosity yet again. In second place, Blu Tack Sticky Tape. Why did I like this? Because it's funny. It has the look of a classic at first glance, then you notice how absurd it is to have this soft thing in the place of the sellotape. Guest judge: Alexandre Gama, president, Neogama/BBH, Brazil This week's guest judge is Alexandre Gama, president and general creative director of Neogama/BBH Brazil, currently ranked the Bestads #1 creative agency in Brazil.Alexandre' background is copywriting, and while working for five years at DM9DDB, he became the most awarded copywriter of his generation. In 1994 he became partner and CCO of ALMAP/BBDO, where he helped to build the most successful creative reputation of an agency in Brazil. In 1996 he became President/CEO and Global Board Member at Y&R, coordinating the agency operation with Wunderman, becoming the first Brazilian creative having two different communication disciplines at his command. In 1999, Ale started NEOGAMA, which, in 2002, associated with BBH because, in John Hegarty's words: "if we had to start an agency in Brazil, it would be NEOGAMA." Alexandre Gama is among the top 5 Brazilian admen, being an active creative professional winner of awards such as 22 Cannes Lions, D&AD Yellow Pencil, CLIO, One Show and NY Art Directors. He was pointed Creative Professional of the Year (1996), the only adman on the list of "New Economic Leadership" (Money Magazine 1998), Leader of "Agency of the Year" (2002) and "Entrepreneur and Leader of the Communication Industry of the Year" (2007). My choice is Heineken 'Walk in Fridge'. It's a classic beer TV spot in terms of script and structure and one of those familiar idea situations that always punches you in the stomach at the end.... BEST TV My choice is Heineken 'Walk in Fridge'. It's a classic beer TV spot in terms of script and structure and one of those familiar idea situations that always punches you in the stomach at the end. Not fresh as a format but still great in effect. It's impossible not like it or not be surprised by it. 'Best Job in the World' on the other hand, is not really a TV spot, as this TV spot for me is merely a vehicle, a 'video presentation' of a bigger and better idea. An idea that is really, really clever. BEST PRINT VW Caravelle. Not much to say here (as good images always speak by themselves). Great visual, high-impact idea message and funny. The triumvirate of press. Runner up press: Land Rover Defender. BEST OUTDOOR Forus: Air Conditioners The global warming subject is more and more in need of serious ideas and campaigns, sometimes educationals. Despite not mentioning the cause-effect connection between air conditioning and global warming, this piece deserves the credit for calling attention to the matter in an impactful way. Runner up outdoor: Foundation Abbe Pierre. Guest judge: Rowan Chanen, creative consultant, Asia Rowan began his career at DDB in Australia where his very first attempt at a creative assignment won 'Radio Campaign of the Year'. After working on everything from airlines and banks to network television and toys, he sought something different and moved to Bates Hong Kong, where he found himself working on more airlines, banks, television and toys. During his time there, the agency was named 'Asian Agency of the Year'.Rowan then moved to McCann-Erickson in Hong Kong as Deputy Creative Director before joining Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore where he was ranked one of Asia's top ten creatives by Campaign Brief Asia. He was also part of the team that made the agency Advertising Age's International Agency of the Year. In 2000, Rowan moved to Berlin Cameron in New York City, working on a host of major iconic brands such as Coca-Cola, Reebok and General Motors. After three years, he returned to Asia as Executive Creative Director at DDB Japan. Most recently, Rowan served as Y&R's Chief Creative Officer in Asia where he reestablished the network's creative profile and oversaw a tenfold increase in creative awards. Rowan has served on award juries around the world and has won recognition for his work at every major advertising festival including Cannes Lions, D&AD, The One Show, Clio Awards, New York Festivals, Communication Arts, World Press Awards, London International Advertising Festival, Australian AWARD, Adfest and the Asian Advertising Awards. The year is only two weeks old, but I'm not entirely sure that all the ideas up for review are as fresh and new. However some of the TV looks good and that's half the battle.... BEST TV Washing machines and cars are notoriously tough categories, so as there has to be a best of the week and a runner-up, perhaps the LG Steam Cloud stands out from most washer spots we've all been subjected to lately and the Audi Box has a good dose of technical charm. BEST PRINT Can't say I really fancy much of the print this week. At the very least the Motorola GPS does touch on an altogether familiar problem, albeit in an altogether familiar way. And the ALS Association Shoelaces has a stab at using the medium. BEST OUTDOOR As for the outdoor, I have no idea who organizational expert Peter Walsh is (obviously I am one of the sadly disorganized) but the Office Max Billboard is a solid example of old-school outdoor. For attempting something a little different, the Ant Rid 'live demo' deserves a mention. Though, dare I say, I'd be a little antsy about how the punters may feel upon discovering a sticker slapped on their rear. Mind you, we could all probably do with a good slap on the rear... Guest judge: Andrew Fraser, ECD, JWT Sydney
GUEST JUDGE /BEST AD OF THE WEEK
AUSTRALIA
December 24, 2008 01:00 (Edited: February 17, 2023 04:19)
Andrew started his career in advertising at BMP (now DDB London) and was there for 15 years. He was lucky enough to work with many talented people at the agency and like most people there at the time, won a hatful of awards. His most awarded and well-known work has been for Volkswagen and The Guardian newspaper. He has subsequently taken up ECD roles at Draftfcb and Rapier in London. Three months he ago touched down in Sydney to fill the ECD spot at JWT and build on the new creative buzz at the agency. Andrew loves the new approach to media and working in ideas beyond the traditional channels. Despite all the economic gloom, he feels that this is a pretty good time to be in the advertising. To read Andrew's review of this week's Top 6, click 'Read More'... BEST TV My fav is the anti-smoking ad, featuring the sweet voice of a little child. The only thing that scares her (it turns out that it's not spiders or even Becky Taylor) is "my Mum smoking and that my Mum will die". It draws you in, it's convincing and will give even a hardened smoker a sharp pang of guilt. Second is the ad for Decathlon. A father thinks he is witnessing a young lad having energetic sex with his daughter in her bedroom above him. What the father doesn't know is that, in fact, they are playing Decathlon, a sports video console... All good innocent fun. I just feel so bad for the father. A nicely crafted ad. BEST PRINT And the winner is the Ramhorn ad for Defender. A goat looks wistfully up a mountainside, presumably at his main competition on the craggy slopes, the Land Rover Defender. A very simple idea, beautifully executed. In second place: the Team Vodafone ad, which celebrates Team Vodafone's success in the Supercar championships. I quite like this ad, but it does seem a little familiar. BEST OUTDOOR I'm going for Dave in his amusing leopard skin g-string for first prize. The ambient statue of Dave is a timely reminder to prevent the perils of summer madness, and is brought to you by Frosty Fruits. I think this will raise a titter in the streets of Melbourne. Second best in the outdoor section goes to the park benches idea for Tella. I've seen this kind of thought a few times before for mobile phones, but the stripy benches do look good and I'm sure will generate some interest. Guest judge: Michael Barker, ECD, Red Tettemer, Philadelphia Michael Barker joined Philadelphia-based independent advertising agency Red Tettemer in April 2008 as executive creative director and is charged with overseeing the agency's creative department (in addition to enforcing a strict diet of black pudding, mushy peas and beans on toast).The Liverpool native has spearheaded campaigns on both sides of the Atlantic, most recently at 4Creative in London and, prior to that, as senior art director at Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam. While there he created global initiatives for clients such as Coca-Cola, Old Spice and Electronic Arts (EA). From 2000 to 2005, Michael served as a Creative Director at TBWALondon, where he directed his own campaigns for Sony Playstation and FCUK while simultaneously churning out mould breaking work for The Sun Newspaper and Channel 5 Broadcasting among many others. He is no stranger to the world of US advertising. Before returning to Europe in 2000, Michael served as senior art director at Deutsch New York, working on campaigns for big name clients such as IKEA and Tanqueray. Michael's first major break came during his time at Ogilvy London, where, as art director and then creative group head, he created award-winning work for Duracell, Ford and HP Sauce. Michael now makes his home in Philadelphia's Center City, an "edgy, real" place that reminds him of home. He is an avid football fan (the British variety, that is). He often rises early on the weekends to support his beloved football club, Liverpool, from a local pub. To read Michael's review of this week's Top 6, click 'Read More'... BEST TV First choice. Dog-fish isn't just my favourite TV spot of this bunch, it's actually one of the nicest commercials I've seen for a while. Beautifully weird, beautifully shot, beautifully constructed, and so chocked with charm that I'm willing to forgive the ubiquitous end line. If I were wearing a hat right now I'd doff it to the fine creatives and brave clients responsible. Especially for creating such a special brand piece at a time when we're being "Saved By Zero" to death. My second choice is War Child Canada. Which not only got me all interested, but kept me there. BEST PRINT First: The simplest, smartest advert, has to be the De La Hoya V Pacqulao on mobile, though I think a little more care could have been taken in the execution. Second. I've tried really hard to pick a runner up here. Really. But I'm caught between the overused 'swear word' and the overused "let's-make-it-look-like-a-great-artist-done-it". One thing in the overused swear word's favour is that if you take off the F and the ! you're looking at the Amsterdam flag. So at least it's appropriate. BEST OUTDOOR First, and First. W+K's Christmas card making machine is plainly the most interesting and funnest thing here, but it does seem like a bit of a cheat. It feels strange and so wrong to call a poster for The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation wonderful, but wonderful it is. Images as strong and effective as this come up once in a handful of years. They stop, provoke, and then nag and haunt. These are the heavy lifters. A great place, and a great cause to end on. Guest judge: Kerry Keenan, Y&R New York Kerry Keenan is mom to Lucy and Francis, ages 1 and 3. To take a break from the hardest job she has ever had, she heads to Y&R each day as Global Director of Creative Content. There she works for all the brands in the Y&R portfolio, fulfilling her reputation for taking traditionally conservative clients in surprising directions. Kerry started out on Pepsi at BBDO and went on to work at shops as diverse as BBH New York and Leo Burnett Poland. She was the first woman and youngest ECD to run an office in Warsaw, and her proudest achievement is winning the country of Poland's first of many subsequent Cannes Lions. She has won every notable industry award, including one of the first media lions ever awarded at Cannes for Ikea. Recently she was the driving force behind Saatchi New York's breakthrough campaigns for JC Penny and Crest, a 2008 Cannes Gold Lion winner. Kerry's job is to create unconventional ideas and get people, including Lucy and Francis, to notice them. She pulls it off by constantly identifying and utilizing the best in new media. It's hard, but she's really good at it. To read Kerry's review of this week's Top 6, click 'Read More'... BEST TV I thought the TV overall, was really good this week. My favorite piece is, hands down, Pete the Meat puppet. It's weird and funny and well crafted down to the subtitles and camera work during one of Pete's benders. And anyone who can make advertising and franchise rhyme, deserves to win. I hope there is a sequel. Second best, Save Tango, because you can just feel it's the beginning of something bigger. BEST PRINT I want to like the Scrabble ad for its simplicity, but I'm having a hard time getting over the seven tile rule, if my memory serves me right. Otherwise, a little disappointing. BEST OUTDOOR Same reaction. The Mt Rushmore ad is the most memorable, but for all the wrong reasons. Matthew Charde, managing director, Almighty, Boston Matthew Charde has been the producer on some of the most recognized work in the US industry. Creating TV spots, animation and branded content for such notable clients as MINI, Coca-Cola, Motorola, The Cartoon Network, McDonald's, Kraft, Gillette, ABC, NBC, PBS and MTV. His past experience includes roles as SVP and Director of Euro RSCG's multimedia and entertainment group, as well as leading Olive Jar Studios for more than ten years as Executive Producer and COO. His work has earned Clios and top honors at the New York Film Festival, Los Angeles World Animation Celebration, Broadcast Design Association, and other international competitions. To read Matthew's review of this week's Top 6, click 'Read More'... BEST TV LOVED the TV spot 'Barnados'...nicely shot and excellent editing. Great casting and made for a perfect :30. No need to watch this one over and over- the message is quite clear. Shit. Great ad. Wrangler was funny - nice art direction and on brand...a distant second place. BEST PRINT I liked the Land Rover ad. Held my eye as I looked all over the page. Made me remember my first matchbox Land Rover (which I loved and still have...geek) and reminded me why I bought the real deal 20 years later. Right message delivered to the right demo. Very clever. The Nikon ad was a close second. While I've seen this creative before, this one certainly was the most pleasing execution of it that I have seen. It worked. Nicely composed....little nuggets to find...and on brand. BEST OUTDOOR Outdoor was a strong category. Dreamfields(Bag was my fave and Soccer my second) gets my vote. Good campaign concept and executed well. Type and imagery are laid out well and I loved the pallet. I wish I could see it full size. « First « Previous Next » Last » 19 of 22 |
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