WaterAid, which works to bring safe water and sanitation to some of the world's poorest communities, was revealed as the 2010 competition's charity partner and unveiled a brief on 15 May for young creatives across the world to create a short ad of up to one minute and upload it onto YouTube to promote their Don't Let it Drop campaign. The ads aimed to get viewers to sign WaterAid's petition demanding that world leaders do not let water and sanitation drop from the international agenda when they meet to review the progress of the Millennium Development Goals in September.
Creatives were given 48 hours to submit their ad and then had a further two weeks to make their YouTube ad go viral by any means necessary and obtain as many votes as possible.
The competition received 530 entries and over 75 600 votes in two weeks. A panel of worldwide creative leaders assessed the quality of the ads over the last week and selected Andrew Dobbie and Rachel Wolak as the winners based on the overall creative execution of the brief and the videos' public votes. They will now unite as 'Team YouTube' and will receive an-all-expenses paid trip to Cannes to attend the International Advertising Festival and join 39 other teams from around the world to compete in the Young Lions Film competition which offers exposure for young creatives looking to carve a role in the advertising or film industry.
