Seen and noted

BEST TV
Winner: ABC iview 'A Jest, Surely'. "Always Free. Always Entertaining." It's a great line for the ABC. Hard to argue against. This spot was well written, well cast, and true to the line. The Jester delivers a very heavy-handed product explanation, but they made it part of the comedy and put it at the centre of the script. I always like to see that. Why hide a product description when you can make it blatant and entertaining? There's that word again. Nice one, ABC.

Runner Up: Sorbent 'Behind Every Great Australian'. The poem had memorable moments, with the line landing well at the end. Usually, I'm not big on toilet humour, and Anthemic-ads-for-all-Australians can be pretty hit-and-miss. But here the comedy hits well with a message you can't miss. So, this one works. Good job, Sorbent.

BEST PRINT
No winners or runner-ups this week.

BEST OUTDOOR
Winner: AXIS 'The Impossible Angle'. Who doesn't love a good, creative product demonstration? If you want to demo a durable camera, why not bury one in ice while jacked-up hockey players skate over it? Do it in Canada where people are mad for hockey, then show everyone the high-res footage. Good, creative product demonstration! Ideally, we'd see the camera footage and new angles integrated in broadcasts of professional hockey. That would be awesome. Not sure if that was/is the plan? Either way, well played, Axis Communications.

Runner Up: Menulog 'The Papped Bag'. What I like about this one is the social commentary at the heart of it, even if it does make me a little depressed. It's a sad state of affairs, really. Give Christina Aguilera a brown paper bag, seed it well in social media, then watch it mildly blow up in news headlines. Good placement by Menulog; a clear, albeit cynical, understanding of the media landscape was required to make this work; and it's a nice dig at fashion and paparazzi culture in general.

BEST INTERACTIVE
Winner: Kit Kat 'Have AI Break'. This choice comes with a disclaimer. It's my pick for winner, if (and only if) it is true. Is this a thing? Do Large Language Models, like Chat GPT and Google Bard, genuinely respond better when the prompt begins with a slight variation of Kit Kat's tagline? A tagline, it should be noted, that's been in play since the late 1950's, when it was penned by a Copywriter at JWT, London. If it is true, then it's an incredible find and fit for one of the most well-known FMCG lines ever. I'm sure Award Jurors will debate the validity of the 'Have a break, and then...' prompt at length. But I'm currently judging all by my lonesome, so I'll just have to trust* the case study, and say very well done, Kit Kat.

Runner up: Burger King 'Whopper Island'. This one made me smile. Classic Burger King comms poking fun at McDonald's, which for some strange reason, is a tactic I don't tire of. Here they've gone to the literal ends of the earth to prove a point about flame grilled burgers. Not sure just how much traction #IlhaWhopper will get in the long run? But I do like that it's linked to coupons for Whoppers in Brazil, so as a short-term sales play with a sense of humour, it's great.

A side note: I also love the 'Surgeon's Cookbook' in this round of Interactive Ads. But I'm aware the same idea was done for a Japanese Surgical college a few years ago. Gold at Cannes, from memory - a memory confirmed by Google. So, a worthy mention for the craft and the collaboration with the Micheline Star Chef, but no prize, so to speak.




This week's guest judge is Paul Reardon, chief creative officer for TBWA Melbourne, TBWA Adelaide and Sustain by TBWA.

With over 20 years' experience, Paul has worked as both a Creative and Creative Director generating creative solutions for brands like Corona, M&Ms, Dulux, The Australian Defence Force, Schweppes, South Australian Tourism Commission, Nissan, The United Nations, ANZ, NAB, the Australian Federal Government and Adidas globally.

On his journey, Paul has been recognised at every major local and international advertising award show. Over 20 Cannes Lions, including the Cannes Lion Audio Grand Prix (for Snickers) and the Cannes Outdoor Grand Prix (for ANZ Bank); 15+ D&AD Pencils; the Grand Prix at Spikes on four occasions (for both ANZ and 3AW); multiple Gold Effies; and the first One Show Green Pencil (for Nissan) to be awarded to an Australian Agency. Paul has judged at several international award shows for Creativity - most notably Cannes Lions where he served as a Jury President.

As a result of Paul's creative work for the United Nations in 2019, TBWA became formally recognised as an Official Partner of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Strategy Hub, a first for any advertising agency globally.