BBDO Canada took home an industry-leading five golds, plus Best of Show, for a diverse group of clients at the 2008 Bessies Awards in Toronto last night.
BBDO’s “Emoticon Susan,” an ad for Diet 7Up featuring an office worker who makes her co-workers days “a little bit lighter” by closing all of her e-mails with an emoticon, shared Best of Show honours with a campaign created by Random House to promote the Douglas Coupland novel The Gum Thief.
Coupland, who both wrote and appeared in the ads, was a feature speaker at the annual awards show, which took place at The Fairmont Royal York Hotel.
Campaign golds went to John St.’s “Camp Okutta” PSAs for War Child Canada, which promoted a fictional military camp for kids; BBDO’s “Elevator Small Talk Tony” for Diet 7Up, and Random House’s “The Gum Thief” campaign for the Douglas Coupland novel.
BBDO also won gold singles for its “Stairs” ad for Parmalat Canada and its “Dave” ad for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, while Cossette picked up a pair of golds, one for its “Electricity or Rent” ad for Habitat for Humanity and its “New Guy” ad for McDonald’s.
Single golds went to DDB Canada’s “Christmas Dinner” spot for Blockbuster Canada; TBWA-Vancouver’s “Buckets” for Vancity Savings Credit Union; DraftFCB’s “Top Chef” spot for the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board; Ogilvy & Mather’s “Onslaught” ad for Unilever Canada’s Dove brand and John St.’s “Camp Okutta” spot for War Child Canada.
This year’s entries were chosen from more than 300 entries. Produced by the Television Bureau of Canada in conjunction with the Broadcast Executives Society, the Bessies Awards honours the best in TV creative.
“TV is really hard to do well, so congrats to all the people who sold, fought, scrounged and believed in their ideas,” said Stephen Jurisic, who a co-chair of the nine-person jury.
