'The Lost Class' dominates at D&AD with two Black Pencils

Change the Ref’s “The Lost Class” continues to dominate at the major shows, scooping two of the five Black Pencils awarded at the D&AD Awards, its significance resonating all the more in the wake of the tragic school shooting in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday. The anti-gun violence campaign, created by Leo Burnett Chicago and directed by Hungry Man’s Bryan Buckley, was the top winner at the show. It centers on a faux commencement high school ceremony for seniors who would have graduated this year, had they not died in shooting incidents. The D&AD honors follow the campaign's previous accolades at the One Show, ADC Awards and Ad Age's Creativity Awards. In addition to the work itself, Leo Burnett Chicago won Agency of the Year at the awards, which were announced in two virtual ceremonies on Wednesday and Thursday. Commenting on the campaign's significance at this time, D&AD Awards Director Donal Keenan noted that the judges saw the work as a "game changer." "True creative excellence is work that acts both for the brief and for the world, putting social purpose at the heart of commercial success," Keenan said in an email interview with Ad Age. "The fact is, not enough is being done to end gun violence in the USA. Campaigns like 'The Lost Class' can play a part in capturing and influencing the minds of the policymakers to enact much-needed changes. Leo Burnett deserves all the recognition and awards—it was a very clever, meaningful idea that was well delivered." Among the other three Black Pencils (the top honor not awarded every year) was Samsung iTest, from DDB New Zealand, which featured a website that allows users to try a Samsung Galaxy device from their own iPhone. The web application mimicked the operating system of an Android device. It was initially launched to a small audience in New Zealand but went global after coverage on tech sites around the world. "The judges could also see that the Samsung iTest technology was genuinely effective, making it a deserving winner," said Keenan. "It had 12 million users, and was a brave and clever activation to avoid the Apple store by being just a weblink takeover of the iPhone." Google's inclusive product design for Pixel 6, "Real Tone" (another One Show and ADC winner), also won a Black Pencil. Keenan said that while there was "a big debate" about the award, "judges loved that the new development had the potential to inspire a new generation of photographers. The extensive research and development of the tech was also impressive." Another Black Pencil went to "Hopeline," a free phone service where people could leave messages of support for U.K. frontline workers, created by Adam&Eve/DDB on behalf of a charity, Frontline19. The work "seemed simple on the face of it, but the impact it had was transformative," said Keenan. There were 72 Yellow Pencil winners, D&AD's second highest honor, awarded at the shows. Among the campaigns winning multiple Yellow Pencil awards were Burberry’s “Open Spaces,” which was awarded for Direction in Film as well as for Visual Effects; Alma DDB Miami’s “Better with Pepsi,” which won Yellow Pencils in art direction and writing for Press and Outdoor; and McCann Health’s “The Bread Exam” for the Lebanese Breast Cancer Foundation, which picked up multiple awards. Droga5’s New York Times “Independent Journalism” campaign accrued several Yellow Pencils, including for art direction in the Film and Integrated categories, while the agency’s “Skate Nation Ghana” for Meta picked up awards for Editing and Casting. Droga5 was runner-up as Agency of the Year. Other Yellow Pencil winners included Extra Gum’s “For When It’s Time” via Energy BBDO, the Vienna Tourist Board and Jung von Matt’s OnlyFans stunt and Burger King’s “Even More Confusing Times.” AMV BBDO and Essity were jointly awarded for D&AD's Collaborative Award, which celebrates long-lasting relationships between clients, as a recognition of work produced in recent years such as "Blood Normal," "Viva la Vulva" and "Wombstories." Along with gun violence messages ("Teenage Dream” by BBDO New York for Sandy Hook Promise also won several awards in addition to "The Lost Class"), other themes prominent among the winning work included both health and wellbeing and mental health. And the pandemic in general also had a noticeable effect, said Keenan. "Creativity was vital for helping us manage the effects of the COVID19 crisis, so it is natural that a lot of the work entered into the Awards responded to this," Keenan said. "The branding category had an increase of over 30% in submissions when compared to the year prior, because many brands refreshed their visual identity following the event in order to ensure they stood out in the market. We’ve also observed many campaigns orientated around freedom, like 'Open Spaces' by Riff Raff Films for Burberry and 'When It's Time' by Energy BBDO for Mars Wrigley Global." Client of the year was awarded to Apple, while its Apple Design Team won Design Agency of the Year, with awards for work including the design of IOS15. Division was named Production Company of the Year, with wins for work that included Kanye West's music video "Heaven and Hell." DDB won Network at the Year, with two of its agencies (Adam&Eve/DDB and DDB New Zealand) winning Black Pencils. Australian agency Howatson+Company was Independent Agency of the Year, after its campaign "Rejected Ales" won several awards. It created a limited edition set of beers for craft brewery Matilda Brewery, showing that they had been all been rejected on the way to creating the perfect brew. Overall, 702 pencils were awarded, with the U.S. winning the most 403, followed by the U.K, with 271. The President’s Award will be announced at a special in-person event in September to celebrate D&AD’s 60th Anniversary and to launch this year’s D&AD Annual.

'The Lost Class' dominates at D&AD with two Black Pencils

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