This time Ad of the Month actually covered two months; December and
January. January: New Year's resolutions, the Turner exhibition to be
glimpsed for a month. The quiet darkness of the Turner room, with its line
up of solid work, quiet dark calm. No screamers, no one piece to wake you
up at night. The work on offer on TVads this time round. Solid
hard-working ads, but nothing completely outstanding.
The judging started well & it looked like we'd be finished in five minutes
as we were all agreed on the top five or so in TV and Webfilm. Naturally
wranging and to-ing and fro-ing ensued. In the end our number one came
from an ongoing campaign which, far from waining or sitting on its opening
laurels as campaigns can, continues to improve and was the closest thing
to a screamer, if only for the performance of the main character:
NoNonsense.ie "Butcher".
The next two interestingly were both campaigns of short ads with multiple
executions. Both had highs but no real lows. It's very easy for there to
be a runt in a campaign, but unlike the dodgy rasher that hides behind the
label, there were none here. Second place went to Toyota Auris
"Understand". High production values, a very nice performance and
excellent scripting within a very tight structure with the tag line
repeatedly taking half the air time. But in this case, rather than being
annoyingly repetitive, the openings were sufficiently diverse to make the
tag a neat if open-ended conclusion. 3rd went to Meteor "Social Forecast".
Witty, amusing & topical, it had one or other of us giggling at one time
or another.
Radio caused an unexpected stir. Again it seemed all clear but then
opinions ebbed & flowed. Quite strong feeling came out for and against
certain ads, which is great because often radio seems to be treated as an
afterthought, which is a real shame because it has such an ability to
totally engage when well done. First went to "The Lucky One" which
graphically reminded us of the dangers of farm life - neatly setting up
the danger in a way reminiscent of "This is a 44 Magnum, the most powerful
handgun in the world...". Second place to NoNonsense.ie "Butcher" which
works just as well on radio as it does on TV. And third to Irish Heart
Foundation campaign, which in more & more imaginative ways reminds us of
the (mostly male) conflict between head and heart in health matters.
In print, first again went to HSA/Farm Safety "The Lucky One". Simple
layout, engaging image, fiercely strong message. The proud stance of the
man, captured in crisp black and white stopping us all in our tracks.
Second went to ISPCC "Silent Night" press - which was also a contender in
the radio category - drawing in the viewer with an increasingly dark
narrative. Third went to ICAN for "Copywriter Requeered" - not a new idea,
but simple and to the point. We decided on two craft awards - one for the
clever idea of a bank actually making TV ads rather than simply offering
loans & advice - the AIB "Supporting Business campaign. The other for this
month's screamer - the excellent Helen Norton.
The Turners are going back in the crates, the days getting longer. Already
looking forward to a brighter year.

1st - NoNonsense.ie 'Butcher' - Publicis QMP

2nd - Toyota Auris - Stings Campaign - Javelin