Beats by Dre’s “You Love Me” was the big winner at this year’s AICP Show, picking up the top award for Advertising Excellence/Single Commercial as well as several other accolades. The winners of the show, held by the Association of Independent Commercial Producers, were announced tonight from New York in a virtual presentation.

The Beats spot questions whether society loves Black people as much as it reveres Black culture. It was also honored in the categories of Concept, Direction and Visual Style. Meanwhile, its director, Melina Matsoukas of Prettybird, received four honors. 

Translation, the shop behind the ad, tied with Droga5 for top agency honors, with each earning four awards. Droga5's wins were for the “Life Needs Truth” campaign for the New York Times, Facebook’s “Never Lost” and Hennessy’s “Maurice Ashley and the Black Bear School.”

Alongside the Beats work (which also won Idea of the Year at Ad Age's 2021 Creativity Awards), the AICP also gave one of its top accolades to the director of another spot addressing racism and racial stereotypes. It named Kevin Wilson Jr. Best New Director for his work on “Widen the Screen” for Procter & Gamble, created by Grey New York. The spot captured the effects of profiling Black people based on racial stereotypes and urged viewers to take a broader view of Black life by showing these scenes in a wider context.

Chelsea Pictures, which represents Wilson Jr., was the most honored production company of the show, earning six awards. Contributing to the win were the P&G spot and the Nisha Ganatra-directed "#WombStories" for Libresse, which nabbed multiple honors following its winning run at the Cannes Lions. 

Prettybird followed with five awards, while Blue-Tongue Films, MJZ, Pulse Films, Smuggler and Somesuch each received three honors. Work winning multiple awards included Nike spot “You Can’t Stop Us,” The New York Times “Life Needs Truth,” and Apple’s “The Whole Working From Home Thing.”

Ali Brown, president of Prettybird, served as chairperson of the AICP Show. Honored work becomes part of the archives of the Department of Film at The Museum of Modern Art, where the show has traditionally been held. 

Earlier in the week, AICP revealed the winners of its Next awards, recognizing creative excellence in new and emerging media. This year's chair was Tiffany Rolfe, Global Chief Creative Officer at R/GA. The top Most Next Award went to Michelob Ultra’s “Courtside” by FCB New York. The experiential idea, which also won multiple nods at Ad Age’s Creativity awards, put virtual fans in the seats for NBA games, allowing them to cheer on teams as if they were courtside in real life. Created in conjunction with the NBA and Microsoft, the project also won in the Next categories of Digital Experiences, Experiential and Real Time Engagement.

Other winners at the Next awards included Cox Communications’ "Drawn Closer," by 180 LA and Nexus Studios, which turned a middle school drama production into an animated short. It won for Branded Content alongside Beats’ “You Love Me.”  Reddit’s “Up the Vote” was recognized for Creative Data and it won an award for Social with its “Superb Owl” Super Bowl stunt, via R/GA.

Further notable winners included Dunkin’s collaboration with TikTok star Charli D’Amelio in the Influencer category; Mastercard’s “True Name,” in the Innovation category; Courageous Conversation Foundation’s “Not a Gun” in the Purpose-Driven slot; and Kraft Mac and Cheese’s “Send Noods” campaign by Mischief@No Fixed Address in Integrated. Work for Verizon won awards in several categories including Creative Data, Experiential, Influencer and Social.