Canadian agencies collected one gold and three silver awards at the Outdoor Advertising Association of America’s 69th Obie Awards in Miami last night.
Taxi 2 won gold in the International category for its “Vending Machine” execution for Mini Canada, an interactive night projection that resembled a giant vending machine and invited consumers to select their favourite Mini model via text message.
Chief Obie Awards judge Tracy Wong, chairman and executive creative director for WDCW (Wong, Doody, Crandall, Wiener) called the work a “total kick-ass execution that was fun and engaging.”
Leo Burnett’s Toronto office won a silver in the International category for its “James Ready Coupon Billboard,” which invited consumers to share its billboard space, while Zulu Alpha Kilo won a silver for its “Shed TSA” work for the National Eating Disorder Information Centre.
Zulu was also a two-time finalist in the category for two executions created for PUMA Canada: “Love = Football” and “Mostro With Sole.”
Juniper Park won silver in the Individual Execution – Traditional Billboard category for its “Carved Billboard” campaign for Lay’s Kettle Cooked chips, in which the billboard was hand-carved. The agency was also a finalist in the Public Service category for its “Greensburg Posters” execution for Frito Lay.
A total of 11 gold, 28 silvers and 72 finalist awards were presented at the annual show honouring the best in out-of-home advertising. Colle+McVoy, CP+B and WDCW tied for the most Obies with three apiece.
Best of Show honours went to Publicis New York for its “A Very Pepto Summer” campaign, which showed Pepto-Bismol as a key ingredient in potential heartburn and indigestion inducing foods such as a corndog or hamburger.
Jury member François de Gaspe Beaubien, chairman and CEO of Montreal-based out-of-home advertising company Zoom Media & Marketing, described it as a “brilliantly executed” campaign that immediately elicited an “a ha” reaction from consumers: “Great food and I’m going to need the Pepto.”
