The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

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Whatever's Comfortable, Dumb Ways to Die, My Blood is Red & Black, A Long Day of Childhood, Baggage Labels: Paul Brazier, executive creative director of AMV BBDO's Cannes Contenders

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By Stephen Lepitak, -

February 14, 2013 | 6 min read

In the build-up to this year's Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, which kicks off on Sunday 16 June, The Drum has asked a number of senior creatives to root through the great creative work they have seen produced this year and choose five they believe could and should win big this year. Today's selection come courtesy of Paul Brazier, executive creative director of AMV BBDO.

Metro Trains - Dumb Ways to Die

Probably the most obvious of picks to kick off as everyone knows it. But that’s the point. To have a public information film about train safety in Melbourne be watched by 46 million people around the planet on YouTube is astonishing. Public information/safety films are briefs that normally get the creative juices flowing and produce powerful ads. But nothing on this scale. The joy of it is in the craft. Yes the idea is rock solid, but the animation and, more importantly, the writing are sublime. A song that takes the listener so seamlessly from “Selling your kidneys on the internet” and “Taking off your helmet in space” to not standing too near the platform edge simply has to be applauded. And whilst the world and his wife (plus their two children, the next door neighbours and the weird fellow at number 17) have seen the film, the radio is just as compelling. It reminds me of Honda Grrrr in the fact that the song was so perfect it lifted the whole idea to a level where the accolades flowed. I have a feeling the writers of this campaign may need their own safety warning come the end of the festival – ‘mind you don’t strain your back carrying all that gold back to Oz’.

Southern Comfort - Whatever’s Comfortable

A fat German ex porn star walks down the beach in his skimpy budgie-smugglers without a care in the world. A cheeky nod to the cute girl walking the other way and then only deviating from his confident path to nip off for another glass of Southern Comfort. How the hell did they sell that in? But thank the heavens they did. So simple, so memorable, so perfect. The casting, the direction, the music, the end line. Everything slots into place like a dream. And the true greatness of this isn’t in the fact that it will (or at least should) be showered in heavy Lions’ heads. No the joy comes from sitting in your local pub when the football’s on the big screen and just watching the reactions of the ordinary punters as this ad comes on. They love it to a man. It’s the only ad they even talk about. It stands out like a dog’s dick (or should that be fat German ex porn star’s dick?). I wish I’d written it. And I wish I was comfortable enough to walk down Cannes beach in my Speedos.

Esporte Clube Vitoria - My Blood is Red and Black

An idea so simple it could be this year’s ROM. It uses a pretty similar mechanic – get people to do something by taking away a thing they love but take for granted. In this case rather than a national chocolate bar it’s something even more revered in Brazil – a football team’s colours. To get people to give blood in the Bahia region the local football club removed the red from their kit. Heresy. But it stung the populace into action. The more blood they gave the more red went back into the shirt. Suddenly their passion for their club was matched by their passion for giving blood. Yes its blackmail. But when it’s something so important surely the ends more than justified the means. The fact that a paltry budget of $15,000 returned earned media of over $8,000,000 would bear that out. No one loves their football more than the Brazilians. And no one loves this idea more than me. Genius.

Expedia - Baggage Labels

A lovely print campaign from dear old Blighty. So simple and memorable. The art direction is gorgeously minimalist. And the ads have almost created their own language – a language that all of us travellers can understand. That’s the beauty of it all. It talks directly to the people who will get the most out of Expedia. The lines are simple but you enjoy the little reward of working them out (no, I know we’re not talking Sudoku here but a little work never hurt anyone). If you take the underground in London these ads sing out among the gazillions of other ads that decorate the walls. You find yourself being drawn along the platform to stand in front of them. You just hope it doesn’t coincide with the most overcrowded carriage on your next train. It’s always more difficult I find to predict what will win in print categories at Cannes than it is TV and Digital. But if these fail to bag a few gongs then maybe I need to take a break and have a lie down somewhere nice and warm. Anyone know of a good travel agency?

Ragu - A Long Day of Childhood

Finally one of those ones you just don’t know about. If it gets the right jury on the right day, this campaign could fly. Incredibly simple, beautifully observed, fantastically cast and the song for each is sublimely written. Not one shot or word is wasted. The looks on the kids’ faces when they discover their particular horror of childhood are brilliant. Reminds me of that wonderful old McDonald’s film in which a young boy undergoes everyday trials and tribulations and then Happy Meals are positioned as ‘Compensation for being 6’. But the tone of these films feels more akin with ‘Real Men of Genius’. And that didn’t fare too badly gong-wise over the years did it? There may be better campaigns at Cannes this year, there may be more beautifully shot and epic ones too, but this is the one that leaves me with the broadest of smiles. I love it. I hope the juries do too.
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