Goodby Wins TV Grand Prix

Arnold, Fallon Also Score; U.S. Snares Most Gold Lions CANNES--Goodby, Silverstein & Partners won the top prize last week at the 45th International Advertising Festival here, taking home the Grand Prix in film for its Nike "Skateboarding" campaign. The win left no question that the U.S. dominated the awards show for creativity this year. In addition to the Grand Prix, American agencies garnered 12 gold Lions in film, the largest number of any country represented. Earlier in the week, Boston's Arnold Communications won the Grand Prix in the Press & Poster competition for its Volkswagen new Beetle launch campaign. The three of San Francisco-based Goodby's commercials honored, titled "Golf," "Tennis" and "Running," humorously depict what would happen if all athletes were treated like skateboarders. In one, for example, a pair of runners are harassed by the authorities. In film, U.S. agencies won 12 out of 23 gold Lions (compared to five last year), while its closest competitor, Great Britain, took home three. U.S. shops also won seven of 31 silver and 20 out of 67 bronze awards. Fallon McElligott in Minneapolis led the U.S. gold rush, winning three for Miller Lite/Miller Time spots "Arm Control," "Fly" and "Pro Wrestlers." That campaign was the runner-up for the Grand Prix. Another U.S. campaign, by Cliff Freeman and Partners for Fox Networks/NHL ("Billiards," "Golf," "Bowling" and "Squash"), illustrating how some sports would be more fun if they were as violent as hockey, was a gold winner and the second runner-up for the top award. TBWA Chiat/Day in Venice, Calif., won two golds for Sony PlayStation's "Sound Check" and another for The Weather Channel's "Painted Faces." Additional U.S. gold Lion winners: WongDoody, Seattle, for a SuperSonics campaign titled "Home"; Lowe & Partners/SMS, New York, for Courtyard by Marriott's "Missed Cue"; BBDO, New York, for Snickers' "Cologne"; Dweck & Campbell, New York, for Dial-A-Mattress' "Arctic Ground Squirrel"; Dick Sittig's Kowloon Wholesale Seafood Co., Santa Monica, Calif., for Jack in the Box's "Jack's Visit"; and Suburban Advertising in New York's PSA for Pet Adoption Shelter's "Unconditional." Among the overseas gold winners was a BMP DDB, London, spot for Volkswagen titled, "Lamppost," (a favorite among delegates last week), a Forsman & Bodenfors, Sweden, spot for Volvo called "Teacher" and Grey Advertising's Transport Accident Commission's "10KPH Less," from Melbourne. The Grand Prix was decided by a process of elimination from a group of five gold medalists. The 22-member jury reached its decision relatively easily, breaking up by midafternoon last Friday. Previous festival juries have deliberated well into the evening. Jury president Jean-Marie Dru, chief executive officer international of TBWA Worldwide and founder of BDDP Group, said Goodby's Nike campaign was rewarded for its freshness and ability to effectively reach the youth market. "It was very honest, very smart and very new for Nike," said Dru. Like many film jurors, Donna Weinheim, senior creative director at BBDO in New York, said she was happy with the gold Lion selections. But she expressed disappointment in what she viewed as nationalistic politicking. "It really messed up a few of the awards," she said. "Some that should have been silver were bronze, others shouldn't have won [even] bronze." Festival veteran Gianfranco Moretti, chief creative officer of Leo Burnett Italia and a film juror, was also satisfied with this year's medalists. "The final selection of the gold, silver and bronze is exceptionally good," said Moretti, although he did concur with Weinheim on the disagreements. Agency of the Year honors, calculated by the overall number of film and print Lions, short list contenders and interactive Cyber Lions, went to DM9 DDB Publicidade in S‹o Paulo, Brazil. The Palme d'Or production prize went to radical.media, which produced several winning commercials, including Miller Lite, Snickers, and Jack in the Box.

Brand Marketing

Goodby Wins TV Grand Prix

Eleftheria Parpis

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Eleftheria Parpis