The 2016 D&AD Winners (well, some of them) rated and reviewed.
I would like to preface this post by making it very clear that these are simply the arbitrary opinions of one 42-year-old bloke, and not to be taken seriously.
TV first. Only two pencil winners. Here’s one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj4MzMK6F9k
Thought this was decent but surely not one of the best ads of the year. Nicely shot, but a maximum 40-second idea strung out for a minute. Good twist, but is it great? Nope. 8/10
This was the other TV winner:
Another good-not-great one. The ad is a fun, entertaining watch, and feels jauntily original, but is the payoff 100% satisfying? I’d say 82%, so I’m going to give it another 8/10.
Press ads:
Apparently this is a bigger idea where Burger King’s competitors (not McDonald’s, who declined to participate) were asked to collaborate on a burger for World Peace Day. So is this the press ad from that? It doesn’t really work on its own, so is it a part of some mixed media thing (it also received a Pencil for Integrated and Innovative Media)? No idea. Anyway, it really only works if McDonald’s is involved and you know what it’s about, so as a standalone press ad I’ll give it a slightly confused 7/10.
Writing in advertising went to these radio ads for Dove. Radio is always a bit of an odd category – if you look down the years you’ll find variable quality among the winners. But I think these are very well written and produced, and the reveal at the end is powerful. I’ll give these a 9/10.
The other writing winner:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8k2ZtzpMns
Fucking brilliant. 10/10
Outdoor. Bit of an odd category, this one. Doesn’t seem to be about posters so much as stuff like this (this is the TV ad for a beer brand that uses its waste products to make car fuel):
Very good idea, and the carried it through well. Leaving my ‘Outdoor’ reservations aside, I’d give this a 10/10. Here’s the full explanation.
Then there’s this one. Another stunty thing, but at least it’s on a poster site. Not quite as impressive as the beer thing but still very good. 9/10.
Radio: these ads from KFC are very good work for a tricky sector in an unpredictable category. 9/10. And a lovely bit of writing and VO in these for Doom insecticide – 9.5/10.
Film Crafts: this won for Use of Music and Direction. Both very good, but I also liked the editing (but not the pay-off) – 9/10.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh9jAD1ofm4
Gold pencils: as far as I can tell, this one is for some people who make sticky tape. They hung loads of it from the ceiling in an exhibition hall. To give you an idea of how jealous I am of this idea, take ‘fuck-all’, divide it by infinity and stick it up the arse of a passing fly. 3/10.
This one, however is a full-on 15/10 idea:
Having the idea is amazing; making it happen is amazing x 1,543,835. (Small quibble: the above Vimeo link appeared in November 2014, making it eligible for last year’s D&AD. I wonder why it was entered this year.)
Did you agree with the above? Are there other ads you’d like to highlight? Are you wondering why I didn’t cover direct and mobile and all that jazz? (Answer: life is just a few seconds too short). Have a look at all the winners here and give as many shits as you can muster.
while all of these will make creatives run to the bathroom and peel their carrots, they have absolutely no value to the average people.
if industry insists on the crappy attitude that this is “art” (or whatever fancy name they come up with) than many of these don’t even qualify as something special. in terms of practical value – there’s none.
put them in an average ad break and the winners can’t even beat “20% off” animations.
I like Goldblum ad, though.
Fuck average people.
Awards shows aren’t for them.
What did What3Words win for in terms of advertising?
I agree the idea is pretty impressive and it should be romping home at the topographical society’s gala dinner. But I don’t see an advertising campaign to award. No doubt I’ve missed something obvious. Maybe the raving geographer with the OBE helped put it into the vox-pop category?
KFC and Goldblum both funny and unexpected. That sports one had nice shots of a muscly man with a beard and was a nice addition to all the other identical NikeAdidasAsicsetc campaigns.
Dove just too faux-worthy for me. Have worked on Dove deodorant (cue your unbridled envy) and there’s just far too much hypocrisy involved in the whole thing, from casting conversations to selling underarm whitening spray to East Asian markets. Unilever still very much part of the ‘problem’ they purport to be solving and it’s increasingly irritating to see them (and awards shows) indulging in these public back slapping exercises.
Rant over.
And thanks for posting. A bite-size award winners post is always nice to flick through.
Fuck. Me. Backwards.
(An assessment of the last piece and also my address, spookily.)
@HB,
D&AD is not an ‘advertising award’. Adverts are a part of it.
Design is also a big category. In fact, I think it’s been one of the most successful years, in terms of pencils been handed out.
I think, in some vague way, 3Words fits in the design category and innovation category.
This is an interesting point that I’ve blabbed on about before:
I suppose W3W is an innovation and a piece of design, but then everything is, really. This is why the London Eye, The Millau Viaduct and many other incredible creations have been awarded by D&AD.
So where should they draw the line between ANY great idea and the ones that fall within the remit of D&AD? I guess D&AD would like more and more entries, which is why they’ve been spreading their legs to an ever-increasing extent over the last decade, but it does seem a bit rich to include pretty much EVERYTHING in a category named ‘innovation’.
It’s only a matter of time until they include movies and music and present the awards in a ceremony hosted by Sam Fox, Mick Fleetwood, Chris Rock and Billy Crystal.
Those are fair points @Dickhead and @ben, point taken.
‘Tis a broad innovation church.
Especially for the fees they charge for entering.
WTF? That MAGNUM thing won an award. Why? We really are a bunch of cunts these days.
Yeah, thanks for posting.
Are any award shows that interesting? Grammy’s suck. Golden Globes suck. Emmy’s suck. The Oscars might be the only one worth a damn. Guess we should all be thankful advertising award shows aren’t televised.
Know everyone likes to poo-poo some of the Direct and Media categories, but I find it interesting to see what happens when brands step into the physical world and do something, like REI’s Opt Outside or Newcastle Band of Brands, rather than just say something with a TV spot.
Pretty much agreed with your critiques. Guess that’s why you make the blogging big bucks. But can we call a moratorium on gun control ads? The first Gun Shop was great, but all these follow-ups kind of make me want to blow my brains out.
That Magnum thing is shite. Since when has just shooting stuff nicely been creative? Where is the idea? Why do you need a creative team to think up “We shoot some transvestites really nicely?” My mum can do that.
We shoot some BMWs really nicely. There. I’ve just written an award winning BMW ad.
Or have I missed something?
Yes. People don’t now how to think for themselves anymore and will jump on whatever bandwagon is passing by.
pretty much agree. I don’t understand the gag in the Magnum pleasure/pride one. is that a UK thing? gay ice cream? Jeff Goldblum ad was very nice.
how do you know Cannes is coming?
web gets flooded by agency people pretending they care for the rest of the world (not for awards, oh no, blasphemy!).
the result? nothing more than a stupid hashtag competition like #seametery, #helpmet, #cancerbra, #littlekicks…
The real problem with advertising is that it’s very male dominated. If there were more women CDs it would be a lot less crappy.
Just to be devils advocate…
When advertising has been at its best, the creative departments were almost entirely run (and mostly staffed) by men. Whether or not that’s causal or coincidental, I have no idea, but it’s a fact.
Jeff wins hands down. KFC gas. Ditto on Doom radio. Magnum stank in comparison. Shit on a lollipop stick.
Thanks a lot for the summary Ben, renewed my amore for advertising. Plus I now get horny around insects.
When will your giant Bees be a reality? Or at least in blow up doll form?
What do you mean by ‘a reality’?
Reality is the state of things as they actually exist, rather than as they may appear or might be imagined. In a wider definition, reality includes everything that is and has been, whether or not it is observable or comprehensible. A still broader definition includes everything that has existed, exists, or will exist.
In other words, I don’t think human sized bees exist yet. I could be wrong. Stranger things have happened. Maybe Donald Trump is a giant bee dressed up a giant crackpot.