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Gold Film Lion for Ogilvy Joburg

28 Jun 2010

CANNES, FRANCE: Ogilvy Johannesburg scooped South Africa's first Gold Film Lion in 11 years on Saturday night, 26 June 2010, at the fourth and last awards ceremony at the 57th Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, for its "highly emotive" campaign for HIV/Aids relief organisation The Topsy Foundation, produced by Egg Films Cape Town. Bronze also went to King James Cape Town and Black River FC Johannesburg. [video] [twitterfall] [blog]

There were no South African Film Craft, Titanium and Integrated Lions.

SA Film winners

Category	Sub-Category	Lion	Title	Advertiser/client	Product	Entrant company
Film	Fundraising & Appeal	Gold	SELINAH	THE TOPSY FOUNDATION	AIDS FOUNDATION FUNDRAISING	OGILVY JOHANNESBURG
Film	Banking, Investment & Insurance	Bronze	LEGEND	ALLAN GRAY	LONG-TERM INVESTMENTS	KING JAMES Cape Town
Film	Banking, Investment & Insurance	Bronze	SO BACKWARDS	1ST FOR WOMEN INSURANCE	INSURANCE	BLACK RIVER F.C. Johannesburg

According to Ogilvy, the Gold Cannes Film Lion is the most elite and challenging of all categories at the festival and the last time SA took Gold was in 1999, also by Ogilvy for its Eno antacid commercial. This win is also only the seventh Film Gold for a SA agency since the awards, often referred to as the Oscars of the advertising industry, were launched in 1954 (the others were the Mercedes Chapmans Peak campaign by D'arcy Masius Benton & Bowles in 1990, the BMW Mouse campaign by Hunt Lascaris in 1992, BMW Mercury by Hunt Lascaris in 1992, Roche Asproclear by Hunt Lascaris in 1994 and Sam by Hunt Lascaris in 1998).

Comments Ogilvy Johannesburg's ECD Fran Luckin, "The fact that a campaign that is so close to all our hearts has won Gold, unanimously voted by the judges and so positively received by the audience, is incredibly rewarding. This was a labour of love for all of us, and it wouldn't have been possible without the dedication of the production crew, who filmed Selinah every day for three months, and the commitment of the creative team who saw their vision literally come alive before their eyes."

The winning ad features the true story of Selinah, an Aids sufferer who experiences the ravaging effects of her disease being reversed over a period of 90 days through the administration of anti-retrovirals (ARVs). Each day of her recovery was documented by the team, who witnessed Selinah's incredible metamorphosis over the three month period first hand.

The piece is one of many fundraising initiatives developed by Ogilvy and is testimony to the relationship between the agency and the Topsy Foundation that stretches back 10 years.

"Since the launch of the campaign earlier this year, we have seen an unprecedented influx of support from donors, and the number of patients requesting ARV treatment has also risen sharply," says Sylvia de Jager, Topsy Foundation executive director.

"It is not often that campaigns make such a tangible difference in people's lives, and we are just so humbled that Selinah's story of hope and recovery has also captured the hearts of an international audience."

Grands Prix

Of the 3191 entries in the Film category, the jury, chaired by Mark Tutssel, global chief creative officer of Leo Burnett Worldwide, shortlisted 362 entries, of which 14 were awarded Gold, 24 Silver and 61 Bronze Lions. The Film Grand Prix was awarded to Wieden + Kennedy Portland, US, for its Old Spice ad 'The Man Your Man Could Smell Like'.

In its launch year the Film Craft Lions category received 1110 entries. The inaugural jury president was Jon Kamen, chairman and CEO of @radical.media who, along with his jury, shortlisted 96 entries and awarded 11 Gold, 21 Silver and nine Bronze Lions. RSA Films, London, was presented with the first-ever Film Craft Grand Prix for its Philips Cinema TV entry 'The Gift'.

Bob Greenberg, Chairman, CEO and global chief creative officer of R/GA, presided over the Titanium and Integrated jury who voted on 396 entries to reach a shortlist of 26, of which three Gold, four Silver and six Bronze Integrated Lions were awarded and one Titanium Lion given. The Integrated Grand Prix went to Wieden + Kennedy, Portland's, 'Livestrong' for the Nike Livestrong Foundation, and Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Boulder, accepted the Grand Prix award for Best Buy's 'Twelpforce', in the Titanium Lions category.

The Titanium & Integrated Jury was also responsible for awarding the inaugural Grand Prix for Good. From a list of 32 contenders, the new award was presented to Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, London, for its anti-knife campaign for the Metropolitan Police titled, 'Choose a Different Ending'.

Other awards

Other awards presented at this evening's awards ceremony were:

Advertising Agency of the Year was given to AlmapBBDO, São Paulo, Brazil. In second place came Y&R New York, and in third, Wieden + Kennedy, Portland.
The new award for Independent Agency of the Year went to Jung Von Matt, Hamburg. Runners up were Wieden + Kennedy, Portland in second place and Forsman & Bodenfors, Gothenburg, Sweden, in third.
The Network of the Year award was presented to BBDO. DDB came in second place, followed by Y&R in third.
The Palme d'Or, given to the best production company, was awarded to MJZ, US.
The winners of the Young Lions Film Competition: with the Korean team winning the Gold medal, USA Hispanic taking Silver and Canada Bronze.
The first Young Marketers Competition saw the dedicated jury award the Dominican Republic with the Gold medal, The Philippines with Silver and Latvia with Bronze.
The Advertiser of the Year trophy was presented to Unilever for its consistently ground-breaking campaigns and inspiring marketing. Keith Weed, chief marketing and communications officer for Unilever, accepted the award.

For the full list of winners, winning work and credits, go to:

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