The Simpsons is celebrating the screening of the 500th show and Special Group is doing a bit of celebrating itself because the newspaper ad to promote the milestone that was filled with famous moments from the show has been awarded the NAB ad of the month.
The judges—Vaughn Davis, The Goat Farm; Hadleigh Sinclair, Publicis Mojo; and Antony Wilson, Special Group (who abstained from judging)—commented that “they loved this both as ad fans and Simpson’s fanatics … anyone into the series will have read every word and finished reading hungry for another on-screen fix. Add excellent use of the medium, and job well done.”
But wait. There’s more. Special Group is making a habit of coming up with playful online banners for Four, and it’s done it again for the online component of The Simpsons push (this week it has been showing the viewers’ favourite episodes and the 500th, starring Wiki-leaks founder Julian Assange, screens on Sunday May 6 at 7.30pm) by giving users the opportunity to wake Homer up with either a feather, a baseball bat or a donut.
“Since helping us launch Four last year, Special has produced some great work that has really helped build the success of the channel,” says MediaWorks TV head of marketing Amanda Wilson. ” We’re rapt to have won the April ad of the month with the 500th Simpsons episode campaign. Don’t forget to tune in on Sunday.”
The judges also gave a special mention to Y&R Wellington for its ACC ‘Falls around the home can happen to anyone’ campaign. They agreed that “these are great ads with fantastic art direction’. However, they went on to say that they “aren’t strictly newspaper ads”, which marks a bit of a changes from previous years where more than a few outdoor poster campaigns made it through.
The winning creative team receive $250, get their ad sponsored into the 2013 Axis Awards and make it through as a finalist in the 2011/12 $10,000 Newspaper Ad of Year competition, which will be judged on 1 August at Aotea Square.
Any ad that’s run in any newspaper around the country is eligible to enter the Ad of the Month competition (this is the last month that you are eligible to go in this year’s competition so email your best newspaper ad to kirsty@nabs.co.nz). Entry is free and each month’s winner gets a cash prize of $250 and is eligible for the Ad of the Year prize of $10,000.
To view all the Finalists in the current Newspaper Ad of the Year series visit the NAB website.
CREDITS
Agency: Special Group
Creative Directors: Rob Jack, Tony Bradbourne
Art Director: Johnny Agnew
Copywriter: Oriel Davis-Lyons
Head of production: Nigel Sutton
Head of studio: Peter Fox
Project manager: Jules Pakenham
Media Director: Angela Ford
Media Buyer: Shreya Parker
Mediaworks TV: FOUR Brand Manager: Renee Colquhoun, Head of Marketing FOUR & TV3: Amanda Wilson
