Creativity without limits: catch up with this year’s Chip Shop Awards nominees
The Drum’s Chip Shop Awards notoriously celebrate unadulterated creative campaigns – the kind of ads that push boundaries, generate a buzz and get the entire industry excited. Ahead of tonight’s ceremony (June 30) catch up with all of this year’s nominees.
Guinness billboard idea by Ogilvy / Ogilvy
This year, individuals and agencies tackled briefs across a variety of categories, including best political campaigns, ad most likely to cause a riot and best parody.
Deciding the winner falls on our judges, chaired by Inbrax’s co-founder and chief creative officer Pancho González.
Catch up on the bold and brave work on the dedicated website.
Among the most popular categories for entry was the ‘Best Billboards’. This was a canvas for creatives to explore their wildest ideas, from 3D builds to witty copywriting.
In celebration of this year’s ‘outdoor’ category, we’re shining a light on the six nominations up for the coveted top prize.
And just to reminder readers, none of the brands have formally endorsed the following campaigns.
Guinness: Clouds by Ogilvy
Did you know that the UK is home to four of the five cloudiest cities in Europe? Glasgow, Birmingham, London and Manchester may not be the sunniest destinations, but they provide a great home for these eye-catching Guinness billboard ads by creative agency Ogilvy.
In a slightly whimsical manner, cameras are fitted to the back of these billboards as cloudy skies are livestreamed into the head of the pint. Light sensors ensure that they activate during overcast conditions.
Locals in these cities may look up at the familiar clouds with a sense of monotony and anguish, but a pint of the black stuff is sure to raise a smile.
Think: I’ve Only Had A Couple by DA Creative Studio
This provocative campaign shows the repercussions of choosing to drink and then drive. The road safety campaign was devised by DA Creative Studio for the Department of Transport and aims to stop people in their tracks and show them the brutal realities this decision can have.
B&Q: Reclaim Your Space by Reflect Digital
Reflect Digital took inspiration from B&Q’s 2011 campaign slogan ‘let’s do it together’ for this out-of-home (OOH) build. Although the slogan was originally introduced to confront the general fear of DIY going wrong, the agency felt that given the past two years, the slogan had new meaning.
During the pandemic companies went out of business, budgets were pulled, billboards were left empty and outdoor spaces were left in poor states, as the people and money were no longer available to look after them.
With this project, it aims to empower us to think of community projects and people coming together to ‘reclaim their space.’
HSBC: Red Tape Billboard by Liam & Thom
Brexit has had a huge effect on many small businesses in the form of ‘red tape.’ To draw attention to this, creative duo Liam and Thom created an HSBC billboard wrapped in it, with the tape cut through to reveal the bank logo.
According to the team: “This began as a proactive idea that was really liked by the client but was then put on hold as they worried it would cause too much controversy between HSBC and the UK government. We’ve therefore spent the last 12 months trying to persuade them otherwise, as red tape is still a very relevant and sticky barrier for UK businesses. Unfortunately, we haven’t succeeded in getting them to buy the route.”
Adobe: The Free Speech Update by Miami Ad School Europe
Launched on International Women’s Day, lingerie brand Neiwai used billboards to bring certain problematic Chinese words to prominence – in particular the character that represents women.
‘Nǚ’ (女) is used in many negative words including jealousy, cheating and trickster. To combat this and spread awareness about sexism in the Chinese language, the progressive brand is replacing the character with real women in its campaign imagery.