Good ideas vs bad taste: what ‘creativity with no boundaries’ looks like

Many of the world’s award shows require client approval, the dates campaigns ran and minimum media spend to ensure scam ads aren’t honoured. But The Chip Shop Awards are “about fostering and recognising creativity with no boundaries and no rules”. The work does not need to have been broadcast, printed or mailed, the clients don’t have to be yours, and you can even make up your own categories. So, since its launch in 2002, the website claims the awards “have produced some of the cleverest, funniest, worst taste advertising and design ever seen”. Some, like M&C Saatchi’s Dave King think they’re grubby and worthless; a blight on the industry. Others like Leo Burnett’s John Jessup embrace the unrestrained creativity on display. Here’s a collection of this year’s finalists (including .99’s Safe Distance), so you can make up your own mind.