Work created around the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games won big at the AICP Show in New York this year, with Meta’s Olympics ads and Channel 4’s “Super.Human” spot among the top honorees.
The winners of the show, held by the Association of Independent Commercial Producers, were announced last Thursday from MoMa in New York and become part of the museum's permanent collection.
The Advertising Excellence/Campaign winner was Meta’s Summer Olympics campaign. The effort from Droga 5 New York comprised three films that revolved around different aspects of skateboarding as a new sport at the Games: “Skate Nation Ghana,” directed by Bafic, Justyna Obasi and Elliott Power of Love Song; “Longboard Family,” directed by FKA Twigs of Object & Animal; and “No Comply,” directed by Yann Mounir De-mange of Reset Content.
The campaign also picked up awards in the categories of Editorial, Licensed Soundtrack or Arrangement and Production. Meta was the most honored client at the show, and the "Skate Nation Ghana" directors, Bafic, Justyna Obasi and Elliott Power of Love Song, were the most honored directors.
“Super.Human,” the Paralympics trailer by U.K. broadcaster Channel 4, directed by Bradford Young of Serial Pictures X Somesuch, was the Advertising Excellence winner for a single spot and also won in the category of Direction. The spot evolved the broadcaster’s previous award-winning Paralympics work, which had portrayed para-athletes as “superhuman.” The winning ad instead portrayed them more authentically, informed by the real-life experiences of over 20 athletes with whom the organization partnered.
Other work picking up multiple awards included Sandy Hook Promise and BBDO New York's "Teenage Dream," Apple spots such as "Tracked" and Burberry's "Open Spaces." The most-awarded production companies were Love Song, MJZ and Smuggler with four honors each, followed by Biscuit Filmworks and Riff Raff Films, with three honors. Droga5 was the agency with the most honors, with seven honors.
The Best New Director honor went to Ebeneza Blanche of Smuggler for her work on “Point and Kill,” a music video for the artist Little Simz.
Earlier in the week, AICP had revealed the winners of its Next awards recognizing creative excellence in new and emerging media. The Most Next Award, the AICP Next Awards’ Best of Show honor, went to Wingstop’s “Thigh-stop,” the virtual restaurant response to a chicken wing shortage that Leo Burnett and Funnel Creative created for the restaurant chain.
The entry was also a winner in the Next Awards’ Integrated Campaign category. As the winner of Most Next, Leo Burnett could direct a $5,000 grant from the AICP Foundation to an organization of their choosing. The agency chose Marwen, which provides free visual arts and college and career programming for Chicago’s young people from under-resourced communities in middle through high school.
