Seen and noted

BEST TV
Winner: For me, the Walrus of Virgin Media is smooth. Great choice of music, a great boat, and an even greater character: a Walrus. Fantastic VFX and supporting actors all around. A pleasure to watch, and it delivers the message 'smoothly.' A home run for me. Applause to everyone involved.

My runner-up? Swiggy. Just fun, it explains what they do - they deliver in 10 minutes whatever you type. And they show it in the film. We miss this kind of fun in Europe, to be honest. Great job.

Best: Virgin Media O2 'Walrus Whizzer'
Runner-up: Swiggy Instamart 'Swiggy Instamart Groom'

BEST PRINT
Numbers are always hard to imagine, but this ad for KidsCan gives a nice picture to think about: 10,000 children waiting for support this winter. It makes you stop, read, and wonder.

The runner-up is about animal smugglers. Yes, I've heard some crazy stories about people smuggling animals in unimaginable ways. It's humorous but highlights the issue well.

Best: KidsCan 'Kids Can't Wait'
Runner-up: Wildlife Crime Research Hub 'Echidna'

BEST OUTDOOR
I love a spectacular outdoor ad, and if it features sweat running down because the chips are too hot, it's even better. Of course, there are questions like: is that real sweat? Is it water? Where does the water go? How do sweat and chips go together? But what the heck—it's fun!

For the runner-up, I moved Virgin Mobile here because I think it's an outdoor ad at a metro station. Waiting for the metro with nothing to do? Now you have something - guess the 25 films hidden in the billboard. Nice!

Best: Extra Flamin' Hot 'Ashley Roberts'
Runner-up: Virgin Media 'Break Free from the Commute'

BEST INTERACTIVE
If your brand name is Liquid Death and you have a rule-breaking marketing team (as your name suggests), you can indeed create life-sized beverage cooler caskets! I would be the first in line. Love it!

For the runner-up, why not take the volcano that creates your water and let it create all the assets for your campaign? Clever work!

Best: Liquid Death 'The Life-Sized Casket Cooler'
Runner-up: Tesalia Company 'Unrepeatable Ads'

BEST RADIO
Winner: Hansa is the opposite of those heroic beer ads. The twist at the end and the calm South African voiceover make for a great anti-climax radio ad. It's quirky to the max, with a bang at the end. Good job.

The runner-up for me is the Reactive Radio from Bupa. The more you hear it, the more it gets you moving. And if you're stuck in traffic, it works even better.

Best: Hansa Pilsener 'What's Gucci'
Runner-up: Bupa 'Reactive Radio'




This week's guest judge is Tolga Buyukdoganay, chief creative officer at Ogilvy Amsterdam.

After studying graphic design, Tolga has been wandering around Europe trying to find a place that fits his mindset. He has traveled from Istanbul to Vienna, Frankfurt to Düsseldorf, and recently to Amsterdam. Despite not speaking a word of Dutch, Tolga is proud to have landed the role of CCO at Ogilvy Amsterdam and is still learning the language.

Tolga has sat on many award juries including ADC Austria, Kristal Elma Turkey, ADC Germany, Golden Drum Slovenia, Adstars Asia, ZMG Germany, Das Plakat Germany, Adrenaline Lithuania, Jonge Honden Netherlands, LeBook Paris, Lurzer's 200 Best Illustrators, and the Lurzer's Grand Slam. In 2021, he was president of the ADCN Jury.

During his 26 years in the industry, Tolga has won over 100 national and international awards and in 2022 Drum named Tolga one of the Top 200 ECDs in the world.

In his spare time Tolga plays the blues on the guitar, warzone on Playstation, and American pool in the Dutch 2nd league. Tolga also releases electronic music under the name BDA and posts videos of himself fishing on his YouTube channel, Merman Fishing. Says Tolga: "My daughter Vien is not yet a follower of mine, so I think I need to do better."