Creative Awards: Budding Genius

Budweiser and Volkswagen ads steal the show at the 41st annual Clio Awards DDB Chicago's ubiquitous "Whassup True" Budweiser campaign won the Grand Clio in television at the 41st annual Clio Awards, held in New York last week. The commercial is about a group of friends who greet each other with an exaggerated "Whassup?" The spot cuts between the tongue-wagging friends as they connect with their guttural greeting while "watching the game, having a Bud." The Grand Clio selection is "a vote for our industry and underlines what we can contribute to brands," says Michael Conrad, vice chairman and chief creative officer at Leo Burnett Worldwide, Chicago, chairman of this year's TV and radio jury. "They know their target very well, and once you know your target, you can add something to the brand and make it a part of [people's] lives," Conrad explains. "It's done in a brilliant way." "It's hilarious," adds TV and radio jury member Roger Camp, creative director at Camp/Arbues, San Francisco. "One argument for it was, it's the 'Where's the Beef?' of 2000." The Grand Clio in print was awarded to DDB Paris for a Volkswagen Lupo campaign. Featuring the headline, "Lupo: 3 liters to 100 kilometers," the work illustrates the car's fuel efficiency by showing the kilometers it could travel based on the fuel in a cigarette lighter, a lantern and a jar of paint thinner. Bob Barrie, a judge on the print jury, says the choice for the Grand Clio in print was "virtually undisputed. It was one of those campaigns that not only was quite clever but very smart," explains Barrie, art director at Fallon, Minneapolis. "It took these mundane [items] and applied an entirely new meaning to them." The Grand Clio in interactive advertising went to Arnold Communications in Boston for an inventive Web site for Volkswagen (see sidebar). Five Clio juries awarded a total of 255 statues, including 48 gold, 65 silver and 137 bronze, selected from more than 18,000 entries. No Grand Clios were awarded in the radio and package-design categories. Agency of the Year, which is calculated on a weighted point scale for each winning Clio, went to Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, London, with seven gold, four silver and two bronze prizes. The agency won five golds for Guinness--an Extra Cold poster campaign and commercials "Surfer" and "Bet on Black," which also won for cinematography, directing and editing--and two golds for Health Education Authority pro bono print work. Abbott Mead Vickers' wins, along with those of sister agencies Almap BBDO, S-o Paulo, Brazil, and Clemenger BBDO, Eastwood, Australia, won BBDO Worldwide the Agency Network of the Year award. The U.S. agency to collect the greatest number of honors this year was DDB Chicago, winning the Grand Clio and six statues for its Budweiser work. In addition to the Grand Clio for the popular "Whassup True" spot, the agency won two golds, one for Budweiser "Whassup True," which also won a silver for national campaign, and another for a Bud Light "Heroes" radio campaign, which cheekily honors "champions" such as inventors of the foot-long hot dog and the foam finger. Individual radio ads from "Heroes" also won silver and bronze awards. Budweiser work brought Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, most of its Clio honors this year. The agency's "Louie the Lizard" campaign won a gold, two silver and two bronze awards in radio and a bronze for the TV campaign, including spots in which the ferret "gets the job" and sings his "greatest hits." The agency also won a bronze for a Nike print ad. Fallon's Minneapolis and New York offices won nine Clios, with two golds in television going to the agency's "Jukka Bros." campaign for MTV Networks, featuring an eccentric family of trend watchers. Fallon also won a silver for a Nikon radio campaign and six bronzes in print for clients Time, Mercury Marine, Nordstromshoes.com and the United States Tennis Association. Cliff Freeman and Partners, New York, won five bronze statues, four for Hollywood Video radio ads, which condense movie plots to 60 seconds, and one for a Budget TV spot called "Aromatherapy." In the ad, marketers consider a promotional idea to include aromatherapy candles with rentals, but decide against it after imagining the consequences: drivers falling asleep at the wheel. Crispin Porter & Bogusky in Miami captured one gold for "Truth," its regional anti-tobacco television campaign in which footage from the tobacco trials is shown alongside a laugh track. The shop also garnered two silvers and a bronze for a print campaign for GT bicycles. Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore., won three bronze statues for Nike TV ads in the U.S. and Latin American markets. While the Grand Clio went to a commercial advertising beer, Conrad notes, several dot-com ads were honored in the show, disproving the industry notion that Internet advertising isn't noteworthy. "There has been a lot of dot-com advertising bashing, and I think that's absolutely wrong," says Conrad, pointing to work for Internet companies that won in the show, such as Amazon.com, which captured a silver for its national campaign; E*Trade, which won a bronze for its "Wazoo" commercial; and OnHealth, which collected a bronze. "They do a much better job in psychographic targeting. It comes from the fact they are building a community of interest," Conrad says. "They are able to do much more involving, much more relevant advertising than our industry as a whole." Student work also made a strong showing. Five gold Clios in the student category were awarded to the Academy of Art College, San Francisco, and Miami Ad School, Miami. "It suggests there is new blood out there," Conrad says. "The judges said, 'We all have [job openings].' All they need to do is call us." The technique jury, chaired by director Rocky Morton of Morton Jankel Zander, Los Angeles, awarded a number of gold Clios. Gold winners included: Lipton Brisk Iced Tea "Dojo" out of J. Walter Thompson, New York, for film animation; Guinness' "Bet on Black" for cinematography and "Surfer" for direction and editing, both from Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO; and Levi's "Invisible Man" by TBWA\Chiat\ Day, Playa del Rey, Calif., for visual effects by Digital Domain, Venice, Calif. Adidas garnered Advertiser of the Year honors for a four-year body of work from Leagas Delaney, London and San Francisco, and 180 in Amsterdam. Two commercials were inducted into the Hall of Fame: Budweiser's "Frogs" from D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles, St. Louis, and Levi's "Drugstore" from Bartle Bogle Hegarty, entered by Partizan, London. The Clio Awards is owned by Adweek parent company BPI Communications. K The Clio Interactive Advertising Awards honored Arnold Communications in Boston with the Grand Clio for its turbonium.com Web site for Volkswagen North America. The entertaining site, which was awarded a gold Clio in the "Fresh Approach" category, uses music and animation to draw consumers to the turbo Bug. A total of 28 awards was given out at a luncheon ceremony at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York last week. The six gold winners were: Arnold, for turbonium.com; Columbia TriStar Interactive, Culver City, for The Messenger Web site; DM9 DDB Publicidad in S-o Paulo, Brazil, for UOL Internet Service banner ads; Blast Radius, Vancouver, Canada, for Casio G-Shock; Deepend London, London, for a consumer Web site for the London Design Museum; and Red Sky Interactive, San Francisco, for Nike. Nine silvers went to: Agenda Click, S-o Paulo, for Chevrolet banner ads; Fork Unstable Media, Hamburg, Germany, for a business-to- business Web site for Lufthansa; Williams-Sonoma and March First, both in San Francisco, for a consumer Web site for the retailer; Blast Radius, Vancouver, for a Lego Media consumer Web site; Critical Mass, Calgary, Canada, for a Mercedes-Benz consumer site; McCann-Erickson/A&L, San Francisco, for Computec/Incite Internet advertising; Team One Interactive, El Segundo, Calif., for Lexus Internet advertising; and Oyster Partners, London, for a Rockstar Games Web site. The winners were selected by a jury of 32, chaired by Jan Leth, executive creative director of OgilvyInteractive North America. --E.P. Grand Clio/TV, 1 Gold, 1 Silver Agency: DDB Chicago Client: Budweiser Title: "Whassup True" Silver Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi, Wellington, New Zealand Client: Toyota New Zealand Hilux Title: "Bugger" 1 Silver, 1 Bronze Agency: Leo Burnett, Oslo Client: Extra Soft Milk Chocolate Titles: "Folk Dance" 2 Golds Agency: Fallon, New York Client: MTV Networks Titles: "Jukka Bros.: Launch," "Wrong Shoes," "Sexy Dance" 1 Gold, 2 Silvers Agency: Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, London Client: Guinness Title: "Bet on Black" Grand Clio/Print, Gold Agency: DDB Paris Client: Lupo/Volkswagen Title: "The Pot of Brushes" Gold Agency: Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, London Client: Guinness Title: "Iceberg" Gold Agency: DDB Paris Client: The Health Education Authority Title: "Ashtray" 1 Gold, 1 Bronze Agency: Grey Argentina, Buenos Aires Client: Aquafresh Title: "First Aid" Gold Agency: Ogilvy & Mather, Mexico City Client: Ponds Clear Pore Strips Title: "Face

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Creative Awards: Budding Genius

Eleftheria Parpis

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Eleftheria Parpis