Advertising Week is just days away and with it comes announcements that no one cares about! Here’s one that caught our eye, because it smells like an attempt to turn bad news into good PR. Clear Channel, who owns just about every billboard known to man, is giving away $1 million in free advertising (total) at the O’Toole awards.
Here’s what you could win:
— best large, mid-sized and small agency will each receive $300,000 in free advertising.
— the best national public service campaign winner gets $100,000.
“‘These prizes acknowledge creative agencies as critical partners, and we hope they will nourish creativity and demonstrate how effective radio, digital and outdoor platforms are for great content,’ said John Partilla, executive vice president of Clear Channel Communications and president of Global Media Sales.”
Read: We have a shit ton of excess inventory and we want it to be filled by award winning agency work so we can stop selling billboards for strippers, Crate & Barrel and our own ad space.
The O’Tooles are the 4As award show for overall creative excellence. And ego-domination.