New Zealand vodka brand 42 Below has landed itself in hot water after offering the opportunity to go to Russia for a wife as a prize in a competition.
The promotion will offer a winner the prize of a trip to Moscow to join a "find-a-bride" tour, praising Russian women because "they don't care if you watch cricket on Valentine's Day, hell they don't even care if you're short and fat".
The viral ad for the competition, created by Consortium, Auckland, shows an image of a blonde woman scrubbing a floor.
The tours are offered by websites such as
loveme.com, where men can pay several thousand US dollars for a tour of a city such as Kiev or Odessa, in order to meet single women -- and potentially a wife.
Although 42 Below has defended the campaign as "a bit of fun", it has been criticised in the New Zealand press. One website reports that only 17 Russian women were granted visas to New Zealand in the past financial year using its partnership visa policy.
Nonetheless, Russian women in New Zealand have complained about the campaign, saying that the image portrayed in the campaign was wrong. Several have highlighted the fact that the women who do emigrate to New Zealand are educated professionals.
The company appears to have an equal opportunity policy when it comes to offence. It has been criticised in the past for using stereotypical images of gays in its advertising, and its website pokes fun at Ukrainians, Italians and, in particular, the French.
The British are singled out for a special appraisal in an online ad, which describes the country as the "shining ginger-headed jewel of the Atlantic" and Prince Philip as the "grandfather Kiwis never had because all ours were shot dead at Gallipoli".

A naive and wonderful discovery of an Aussie Barbie essential – Masterfoods Squeezy Sauce, by our whimsical Finnish friends ‘Otto & Mette’ in this LATEST SPOT via agency Clemenger BBDO, Sydney.
It’s true that us Aussies love our sauce, but our finnish friends, who yearn for things that remind them of home, have a whole different level of freedom and joy when it comes to all things ‘saucy’!
The viewer is invited to re-discover an old favourite through the eyes of Otto & Mette as they re-count their tale of discovery to friends and find simple humour in the ‘Squeeziness’ of the sauce bottle.
The spot was created by Gary Dawson and Paul Sharp and directed by Hamish Rothwell @ Good Oil.

Foote Cone & Belding Melbourne has created a new TVC and cinema spot for the Australian launch of the new Honda Civic.
To highlight the superb finish of the new Civic, the 60 second spot features the car driving through a world where everything else is, well, unfinished. The spot, created by Romani Mieszkowski and Deryll Naidoo and directed by Jess Bluck of Revolver Film, sees families happily living in half-built houses, driving frame-work cars and playing in a swimming pool with no water. The Civic also travels past unfinished zebra crossings, street signs and a baby in a frame-work stroller. The unfinished world is completed as the Civic passes an unfinished sportsfield with a frame-work billboard in the background.
The spot ends on the line ‘The new generation Civic. Nothing else feels as finished’.

A recent house ad for Clemenger BBDO Adelaide, running in
a programme as part of The Adelaide Festival, is sure to raise eyebrows amongst dog bloggers.

Saatchi & Saatchi Auckland has put to air a series of spots for Wellington Zoo, created by former Glue Society lads Matty Burton and Dave Bowman, directed by Mad via production company Double Cove.

Young & Rubicam Auckland has launched a campaign for Inspiral Condoms, called "Twisted Fun". Elements of the campaign include street posters, A VIRAL EMAIL
, and
ambient - a balloon sculptor out and about at events, dishing out balloon
animals and free condoms. A little bit of fun.
CD: Jeneal Rohrback
Creatives: Charlotte Henry, Amy Cattanach
Art: The Craft Shop

Following the opening of Glue Society's New York office last year, the creative collective have produced their first major US work.
In collaboration with Bartle Bogle Hegarty, The Glue Society have co-written and directed a one hour television show for youth brand Axe (known in Australia as Lynx) as well as directing a campaign of four themed TV commercials.
The campaign is for Axe Dry, working to the line 'Keep Your Cool' and introduces the public to THE GAMEKILLERS - people whose mission in life is to stop guys from succeeding with girls. They appear from the shadows, stepping in just when the guy thinks he's getting somewhere causing him to lose his cool, and blow his chances with the one he desires.
There is a cast of character archetypes such as the 'The One Upper' who has done everything you have done, one bigger or one better. Or the 'British Accent Guy' or swoops in, voice first and makes the locals sound like uncultured hicks. Or the 'Mother Hen' who gathers up her girlfriends at nine-thirty sharp - just when the guy thinks he's getting somewhere. And the dreaded 'Man with Dog' who uses his four legged accessory to pick up girls. There are in total fourteen of these gamekillers - which can be seen on the website, gamekillers.com.
The concept for the campaign originated from BBH New York and the TV show was developed in conjunction with film production company, @radical.media and partner MTV, who aired the show for the first time last week. The Glue Society was hired as the director and co-writer of the one hour television show which is part-fiction and part-reality show.
Says NYC based Glue Society partner, Gary Freedman: "What really appealed to me about this idea, was the chance to create a fictional world and a sort of mythology around the Gamekillers - really evolve great comic characters. And then see what happened when you place them in the real world on an unsuspecting guy who's just trying to get it on with a girl. I like the clash of the two worlds - I don't think I've seen anything that is a hybrid like that. The end result feels a bit like a film, and then suddenly you see those characters interacting in real life - it is very bizarre."
The product, Axe Dry does not actually ever appear in the TV show, but there are a series of bumpers around the programme from Axe Dry and following the show's launch, there are a series of commercials (also directed by The Glue Society) featuring the cast of characters and communicating the message, to 'Keep Your Cool', in the face of The Gamekillers.
"This is not the first 'long format' thing ever produced (The Glue Society also directed the Burger King Chicken Fight last year with Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Miami) - but I would say that it is the most ambitious to date, that I know of. This is a heavily narrative driven one hour TV show with real production values - we shot for twentysomething days so there was a fairly major commitment behind it".
"I think the difference here is that this is in no way the after-thought to the 30 second TV commercials. The TV show is what the campaign is built around - and I think it will set a new bench mark for the whole 'branded content' area, which has been talked to death, especially here in the US. But I think this campaign really does walk the talk. For The Glue Society, it's what we have been aiming to do here and I'm pleased we were able to do it with a good agency like BBH."

TVC director Ollie Langridge has returned to New Zealand to work
alongside producer Carne Bidwill at Flying Fish.
Langridge’s recent work includes ads for Xbox 360, MTV Europe, Michelin,
UNESCO, Emirates and Sci Fi Channel. He’s spent the past two years in
London repped by Renting Eyeballs in Dean Street and the three years
prior in Sydney working for Pod and Capitol.
“Flying Fish is thrilled to have Ollie onboard," says Carne who also
produces for hot young director James Barr. “His showreel is a real
treat and he has the experience and passion to make great New Zealand
commercials."
You can contact Langridge and Carne at Flying Fish in Auckland on 309 2294.
Mobiles:
Langridge: 021 241 1000
Carne: 021 441 939.

A couple try and kill each other over the new RAV4, 'A car to make your own', in a FUN SPOT for RAV4 via Saatchi & Saatchi, Auckland. The spot was created by Toby Talbot, Andy DiLallo and Jay Benjamin and directed by Paul Middleditch @ Plaza Films.

A WEBSITE that panders to everything the client could wish for - to be super successful and above all disgustingly rich.

Tribal DDB New Zealand has appointed Erik Hay as senior interactive art director.
Hay has over four years' experience working with Saatchi & Saatchi Interactive, both in the Wellington and Auckland offices.
Currently ranked 52 on Campaign Brief's Top 100 Australasian Creatives list, Hay has won Gold at Axis and the Effie Awards and took the annual X-Awards prize in 2003. Globally, he has received a bronze at Young Guns and made the finalist list at Cannes several times.
Some of his higher profile projects include Toyota’s Prius microsite (Cannes Lion finalist), Westpac Junior (Effies Gold Winner), Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind’s Soundscape (Cannes Lion finalist), Griffins Cookiebear’s Club House and various microsites for Telecom’s Ferrit.
He graduated from Wanganui School of Design in 2002 with a Bachelor of Graphic Design with Honours, and quickly established himself on a wide range of award-winning projects for brands such as Telecom, Toyota, Westpac, Griffins, New Zealand Dairy Foods, adidas and Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide.
Tribal DDB NZ launched in November 2005 with Heidi Tacbian as managing director. Tribal DDB was named 2005 AdWeek Interactive Agency Network of the Year in New York; 2005 AdNews Interactive Agency of the Year, 2005 B&T Award Interactive Agency of the Year in Australia and Cannes Interactive Agency of the Year 2005.

Brendan Tansey, the new CEO of Euro RSCG Sydney who replaced Glen Fraser over the Christmas break, has announced the decision to "move forward with ten less staff at the agency."
Those leaving the agency are a cross section of staff from the production, creative and digital areas, including various freelance staff.
Says Tansey: “Tom Moult and I have spent the past few weeks looking carefully at the business, and decided to run a leaner, tighter agency at this moment in time. However there are opportunities as we move forward to seek out the best people to complement that talent in all areas of the agency.
“New business has been thin on the ground at Euro RSCG of late, but that is about to change, in fact it is already changing. We have just won a significant new piece of business from existing client 3M, which was won following a competitive three-way pitch. There are four more wins we will be announcing within the next two weeks," he added.
Tansey (pictured here after the infamous 'AdMan Overboard Affair' at the Euro RSCG Trade Press Big Day Out late last year)has worked with Euro RSCG for fourteen years. In 1995 he set up Euro RSCG Interactive, and on four occasions they were named winner of Interactive Agency of the Year. Following a six year stint at Euro RSCG’s New York and London offices, he returned to Australia in July 2005 to launch and run Euro RSCG 4D.

Three agencies share top honours: TEQUILA\, Colenso.99, and Proximity iD

TEQUILA\ and Colenso.99 won the RSVP Grand Prix for the Farmers Beauty Club
campaign as well as gold, silver and bronze

Proximity iD won the Supreme Nexus for the Air New Zealand Airpoints
relaunch along with 2 golds. Proximity iD also picked up a third gold for
the Progressive Enterprises onecard

Other RSVP Gold Medal winners:
WRC - 4 golds and 1 silver for Coruba Rum 'Get Sponsored by Coruba'
OgilvyOne - 3 golds and 1 silver for Purina Friskies Milkoholics
AIM Proximity - 3 golds for Haunui Farm 'The Don'
TOUCH/CAST - 1 gold and 2 silvers for Telecom Mobile's Rock Paper Scissors
Big Communications - 1 gold for Vodafone 'Pigsbottom'
Y&R - 1 gold for the 2005 Electoral Enrolment campaign

Other Nexus Gold Medal winners:
Simplicity Australasia - 2 golds for Placemakers Enterprise CRM
0gilvyOne and Simplicity Australasia - 1 gold for Purina Friskies
Milkoholics
Marketing Impact - 2 golds for Telecom 'Broadband in a box'
The Hyperfactory - 1 gold for Adidas 'Last Man Standing'
Telecom - 1 gold for BeThLeRM - Below the Line Return Measurement
Bank of New Zealand - 1 gold for Data Quality Programme

The Marketing Association will post full results, including silvers, bronzes
and special honours, on Monday at www.marketing.org.nz

Auckland based Silverscreen Productions have secured Di Rowan as a Director.
She is New Zealand’s most celebrated Casting Director. Di is credited as discovering Oscar winner Anna Paquin in The Piano, Keisha Castle-Hughes in Whale Rider, Kerry Fox in An Angel At My Table, Cliff Curtis, Lucy Lawless and Temuera Morrsion, to name just a few.
Rowan graduated from drama school in England and then directed several TV Documentaries and short films before winning critical acclaim as a Casting Director, working alongside Directors; Niki Caro, Roger Donaldson, Vincent Ward, Christine Jeffs, Steven Speilberg, Jane Campion and Gregor Nicholas.
Says Silverscreen's Nikki McKelvie: "After many years of casting feature films, TV commercials and drama series we are delighted to represent Di Rowan through Silverscreen Productions as a Director. Di will focus on delivering strong performance based stories and will be based in Auckland."
For further information or a copy of her reel please contact:

New Zealand
Nikki McKelvie
+649 306 6611
mob +64 21830081
nmckelvie@silverscreen.co.nz
www.silverscreen.co.nz

Australia
Haydn Evans
+612 93830500
mob +61 418969976
hevans@silverscreen.com.au
www.silverscreen.com.au

A note from expat Aussie Marc Lucas, now CD at SS+K, New York. Lucas did AWARDSchool in 1988 and the AWARDSchool Master Class in 1989. Since then he has been a writer at The Ball Partnership, Hong Kong, Chiat\Day New York and Ogilvy New York, before ECD gigs at Ogilvy Manila and D'Arcy Hong Kong. Gongs include a Gold and Silver at The One Show:

I noticed you guys are posting about Aussies on various Juries around the world.
Thought you might like to know there’s an Aussie on the Art Director’s Club jury – me.
Today is day one and so far its lots or crap and a few gems – as always.

--
Lu©as
e: mucas@well.com
p: 646 206 9843
w: www.marclucas-portfolio.com

Tourism Australia has launched a new international tourism campaign via agency M&C Saatchi, Sydney, spearheaded by a 60 second TVC.
According to the PR blurb "The new destination campaign has been developed in recognition of the fact that it is no longer enough for our customers to have a positive awareness of Australia as a great place for a holiday. Whilst Australia is highly desired by tourists worldwide, we need to convert this positive yet passive predisposition towards Australia into an actual intention to travel to the country.
To do this Australia needs to cut through the clutter of sameness in tourism destination marketing, by presenting a compelling single brand proposition about Australia to consumers in all markets.
"Whilst single global creative concepts are common practice in marketing other products such as cars and other consumer goods, this approach is rare among National Tourism Organisations (NTOs).
"The approach adopted in this campaign takes Tourism Australia’s destination marketing efforts to a new level and will provide the opportunity for Australia to lead the market in an increasingly competitive environment in years to come."
The campaign includes television and print advertising, cooperative and retail activity, digital advertising, outdoor advertising, point of sale, and direct marketing.
While there are standard features of all executions in the campaign, there are subtle variations for each market, through the use of colloquial language translations and the inclusion of different sets of experiences based on consumer research.
This tailoring has been designed from the outset, to enable Tourism Australia to create a campaign that is both globally consistent and locally relevant.
The 60 and 30 second versions of the television commercial feature scenes of a variety of Australian tourism experiences drawn from a broad palette. The scenes show both iconic as well as new motivating experiences.
The talent featured in the television commercial are real, everyday Australians - not experienced, professional actors.

To view the 60 second TVC click HERE.

O&M Singapore has again topped the latest Campaign Brief Asia Creative Rankings. This is the 5th year in a row that the agency has achieved this feat. It is also good news for O&M in the Network Creative Rankings where they are in top position for the fourth year out of the last five. And amazingly, five creatives from the TBWA network fill the first five places in the individual creatives ranking.

TOP 5 AGENCIES
O&M Singapore
BBDO Singapore
Dentsu Inc Tokyo
BBDO Bangkok
TBWA Singapore

TOP 2 NETWORKS
Ogilvy & Mather
TBWA

TOP 5 INDIVIDUAL CREATIVES
1.Rob Kleman (ex TBWA Singapore)
1. Marcus Rebeschini (ex TBWA Singapore)
3. Thirasak Thanapatanakul (Creative Juice\G1 Bangkok)
4. Nutchanun Chaiphanumas (Creative Juice\G1 Bangkok)
5. Hirofumi Nakajima (TBWA Tokyo)

Based on the results of this year’s Rankings Campaign Brief Asia also announces our Agency of the Year accolades this issue. Some of these were won by very small margins. Congratulations to all agencies.

REGIONAL AGENCY OF THE YEAR
O&M Singapore

REGIONAL NETWORK OF THE YEAR
Ogilvy & Mather

THAILAND AGENCY OF THE YEAR
BBDO Bangkok

SINGAPORE AGENCY OF THE YEAR
O&M Singapore

JAPAN AGENCY OF THE YEAR
Dentsu Inc Tokyo

CHINA AGENCY OF THE YEAR
JWT Shanghai

HONG KONG AGENCY OF THE YEAR
O&M Hong Kong

MALAYSIA AGENCY OF THE YEAR
Naga DDB Malaysia

INDIA AGENCY OF THE YEAR
O&M Mumbai

TAIWAN AGENCY OF THE YEAR
JWT Taiwan

PHILIPPINES AGENCY OF THE YEAR
BBDO Guerrero Ortega Manila

For all the breakdowns see the 38 page coverage in the latest issue of Campaign Brief Asia – arriving on your desk this week. To subscribe, email asia@campaignbrief.com.

Organisers of the 53rd Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival announced today the members of the 2006 Titanium Lions jury.
Headed by David Lubars, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of BBDO North America, the Titanium Lions award, now in its fourth year, has further evolved to celebrate and honour unique, new and bold ideas with no restrictions to the number of executions, types of channel or limitation to the boundaries of the media used.
“This multi-disciplined and incredibly talented jury will be looking to award this much sought-after Lion to ground-breaking and risky ideas that challenge the world of advertising and communication as we know it", said Terry Savage, Executive Chairman of the Festival.
(Interesting that there are really two Australians on the jury with Craig Davis listed as a Pom. Thanks to Savage of course!).
TITANIUM LIONS JURY MEMBERS
USA, David Lubars, Chairman & Chief Creative Officer, BBDO North America (Jury President)
Australia, Warren Brown (top left), Executive Creative Director, BMF
New Zealand, Tom Eslinger (top right), Director of Interactive, Saatchi & Saatchi
United Kingdom, Craig Davis (bottom right), Chief Creative Officer Worldwide, JWT
United Kingdom, Trevor Beattie, Partner, Beattie McGuiness Bungay
USA, Nicolas Brien, President & CEO, Universal McCann
USA, Scott Goodson, CEO & Chief Creative Officer, StrawberryFrog
USA, Chuck Porter, Chairman, Crispin Porter + Bogusky
Brazil, Adriana Cury, Chairwoman & CCO, McCann Brazil
Sweden, Filip Nilsson, Creative Director, Forsman & Bodenfors

The Titanium Lions judging will take place in Cannes from 21 to 23 June. The winners will be announced on Saturday evening, 24 June.

CB hears several staffers have been retrenched at Colenso BBDO, Auckland including american creative Travis Sorge (right), who was hired from Saatchi LA less than a year ago. The retrenchments follow a pretty ordinary year for the agency on the business front. Sorge was hired after his Toyota 'Cliff' spot won best of show at the YoungGuns Awards two years back.

The International YoungGuns Award traveling exhibition is set to travel OS again, starting with Auckland. All are invited to an exclusive party to view the YGAward 2005 Exhibition. This is a great opportunity to see the best talent under 30, and celebrate the local NZ YGAward Winners and Finalists. Hosted by Curious Film on Getty Images on Thursday March 2, 2006 from 7pm @ Curious Film, 26 Putiki Street, Arch Hill, Auckland. Join them for some ‘pakapunch’ bevies, a juicy pig and fabulous tunes.
RSVP to livia@ygaward.com to secure your invite.
Next in the country queue is Singapore on Tuesday 14 March and Hong Kong on Thursday 16 March.

CB reported this prior to Christmas but now it's official: Publicis Mojo, Auckland has added international creative heavyweight Andy Amadeo to its line up of world class creative talent.
Amadeo has been the creative director at Lowe Howards Spink, CDP and Mustoes in London, and has also been art director at Chiat Day, DMB&B and Simon Palmer.
Amadeo, acknowledged as one of the top art directors in the world, is an international multi award winner with a clutch of Gold and Silver Awards to his credit for clients including Stella Artois (including the 2000 Print Cannes Grand Prix), Nike and Smirnoff.
Nick Worthington, executive creative director of Publicis Mojo New Zealand, says the company has a vision of being world class and the appointment of Amadeo reflects its ability to attract the very best creative talent from New Zealand and around the world.
Amadeo says he has long admired New Zealand as a centre of creative excellence: “The opportunity to work with Nick Worthington and his extremely talented creative team at Publicis Mojo New Zealand was one which I found irresistible."

This year's judging panels at Cannes includes over 18 creatives from Asia. These include Linda Locke (Leo Burnett Singapore), Thirasak Thanapatanakul (Creative Juice\G1 Bangkok), Wisit Lumsiricharoenchoke (O&M Bangkok), David Guerrero (BBDO Guerrero Ortega Manila), Prasoon Pandey (Film Director, India), Lim Sau Hoong (10am Singapore) and Richard Johnson (M&C Saatchi Singapore). Of course the big news is that our own Dave Droga is President of the Film and Print juries this year. If you want to find out more about attending Cannes this year go to www.canneslions.com

The latest issue of Campaign Brief Asia is in the mail this week and it is one not to miss. The Campaign Brief Asia Creative Rankings form a 38 page feature in the magazine. This year there has been some very big changes in the Rankings.

Has O&M Singapore done enough to hang on to their long held position at the top of the table for the 5th year in a row? Which networks have made big increases in the Network Rankings? And who are the three new faces at the top of our individual Creatives Ranking?

This year the top ranking single agency in our tables is named Campaign Brief Asia's Regional Agency of the Year. The top network is named Campaign Brief Asia's Network of the Year. And, based on the results of our Creative Ranking tables, we also announce individual country Agency of the Year winners in Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, Japan, India, Taiwan and The Philippines.

And individually we rank all of the 1011 award winning creatives that are working in Asia and have won awards at any of our recognised award shows.

Just to tease you here is the a list of the top 15 most awarded agencies in Asia (alphabetically). To find out the true order watch out for Campaign Brief Asia in your mailbox this week. This issue will sell out very quickly, so make sure you are a subscriber.

To subscribe, email: michael@campaignbrief.com
and you will receive a PDF subscription form
South East Asia, New Zealand: A$50
Australia: A$55 (+GST)

The top 15 most awarded agencies in Asia
(in alphabetical order):

BBDO Bangkok
BBDO Singapore
Creative Juice\G1 Bangkok
Dentsu Tokyo
Euro RSCG Flagship Bangkok
FCB Singapore
JWT Bangkok
Leo Burnett Singapore
McCann-Erickson Singapore
O&M Bangkok
O&M Singapore
Saatchi & Saatchi Bangkok
Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore
TBWA Singapore
TBWA Tokyo

The first decision by the incoming AWARD committee was to drop Australasian from the name. From now on it will simply be known as AWARD to reflect the organisation's relevance to all in the entire region.

AWARD portfolios assigned:
Darryn Devlin – Creative Director, Kastner & Partners, Sydney
Co Chairman/Supercraft
Paul Prince – Managing Director, The Sweet Shop, Auckland
Co Chairman
Philip Putnam – Creative Director, Morden&Putnam, Sydney
Judging / Supercraft
Justine Armour – Copywriter, Clemenger BBDO Sydney
News Ltd AWARD School (NSW) / Dinner
Chris Bellears – Copywriter, Clemenger Hobart
News Ltd AWARD School (TASMANIA)
Ray Black – Creative Consultant, Sydney
Fairfax Copy School
Christian Finucane – Creative Director, 12:20 Sydney
2005 Annual / News Ltd AWARD School (NSW)
Rob Galluzo – Producer, @radical.media, Sydney
Presentation Dinner / Pie Night
Greg Knagge – Creative Director, Clemenger Adelaide
News Ltd AWARD School (SA)
Natalie Ambrosini – Art Director, Clemenger BBDO, Brisbane
News Ltd AWARD School (QLD)
Annie Price – Art Director, Grey Worldwide, Melbourne
News Ltd AWARD School (VIC)
Adam Barker – Creative Director, Gatecrasher, Perth
News Ltd AWARD School (WA)
Guan Hin Tay – Regional Exec. Creative. Dir., JWT, Singapore
Regional AWARD representative ASIA
Shaun Branagan – Executive Creative Director, NetX, Sydney
AWARD for Clients
Simon Cox – Head of Art, Publicis Mojo, Sydney
2006 AWARD Annual
Toby Talbot – Deputy Creative Director, Saatchi & Saatchi NZ, Auckland
Fairfax Copy School / NZ lectures & schools
Paul Catmur – Executive Creative Director, DDB NZ, Auckland
Judging
Simon Langley – Art Director, BMF Sydney
2006 Annual / Presentation Dinner
Olly Taylor – Strategic Planner, Host Sydney
AWARD for Clients

Following DDB Auckland's admission of Friday afternoon, nzgirl let their members in on the full story Friday night, on their website. Hope this url is still up and works for you. It's kind of interesting. Text and mpeg.

 http://www.nzgirl.co.nz/articles/5981



newzealand creativecircle.blogspot.com

This from Admedia, NZ:

DDB Auckland ECD Paul Catmur has been forced to finally "reveal" the story behind the staged air accident during nzgirl’s stunt at this year’s Big Day Out.
Today's NBR reports it has "obtained" an email sent by Catmur to the Civil Aviation Authority, in which the DDB ECD says, "we sold a dummy".
The paper says Catmur (right) was responding to a CAA demand for explanations about the hoax, which was (and continues to be) promoted on the NZ GIRL WEBSITE where visitors can view streaming amcam-style footage (clearly labelled "BDO Stunt") of a naked "victim" writhing in pain.
"We have enough to do without dealing with this [possible "unreported" air-accidents] nonsense," a CAA spokesman huffed to the paper.
"This year," Catmur says in the email, "everybody expected us to do something -- but we did nothing other than spread an urban myth that our stunt had gone wrong."
Read the reveal on the NZ GIRL WEBSITE

DDB Australia's Garry Horner will chair the Outdoor jury at Asia Pacific AdFest, which will be held in Pattaya Beach, Thailand in March. He joins Paul Catmur from DDB Auckland who is on the Film jury. The Film Jury will be chaired by Prason Joshi while the Print Chairman is David Guerrero.

At the AWARD AGM held last night, a motion was passed to explore various management options. Two de Force has managed AWARD for the last decade and according to AWARD co-chairmen Darryn Devlin and Paul Prince (pictured), it seems only prudent to review the situation. A sub committee will be formed to look into the matter and is expected to report back within a few weeks.

Matt Shirtcliffe, Creative Director of AIM Proximity, Auckland, will be awarded the Irving Wunderman Award for lifetime creative achievement at the 28th Annual John Caples International Awards Show on March 2, 2006 at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Pavilion. Shirtcliffe was selected by the Board of Directors of the John Caples International Awards based on the “tremendous quality of his creative work produced over his career."
The Creative Director behind 13 Caples awards, he is the first Irving Wunderman Award recipient from New Zealand, and the first from anywhere in the Pacific rim.
Named after one of the world’s most inspirational copywriters, The Irving Wunderman Award is presented by the Caples Board to an individual who, for a decade or more, has combined the highest levels of talent, imagination, curiosity and human insight into a unique body of creative work.
Shirtcliffe began his career as a copywriter in 1994 at Colenso (later Clemenger BBDO) in Wellington. In 1999, Shirtcliffe became Creative Director of AIM Direct (now AIM Proximity) in Auckland, a position he held through 2001. In 2000 the agency won gold at the UK’s Marketing Direct Creative and Innovation Awards, and three golds at ECHO. Locally, AIM remained the most awarded agency.
In 2001, AIM entered the John Caples Awards for the first time and won a Second Place, as well as a Silver at ECHO. Locally, the agency won the Grand Prix award for best campaign at the RSVP awards. Shirtcliffe was the most awarded copywriter and Creative Director. And in 2002, the agency won more Caples.
After a brief sojourn at Grey Worldwide, Shirtcliffe returned to be Creative Director and member of the Board of Directors at AIM Proximity. That year, the agency’s campaign for MINI BMW won a First and Second Place Caples, and the agency won another two awards at Caples as well.
In 2004, AIM Proximity was voted AdMedia’s Agency of the Year after significant business growth, and it reached a number 2 ranking in the global WON Report of creative Direct Marketing agencies. That year, their work once again featured prominently at Caples.
For 2005, AIM Proximity has five finalists at the Caples (their places will be announced on the night) for a range of clients including Bank of New Zealand, Air New Zealand, and MINI BMW. Locally, AIM Proximity won its first gold EFFIE award for advertising effectiveness, with the launch of the Airpoints Dollars program.

Creatives should rock up in force to the Annual General Meeting of AWARD tonight (Wednesday), which will be start @ 5.30pm at The Dolphin Hotel, Surry Hills. AWARD's trans-Tasman co-chairmen Darryn Devlin (right) and Paul Price (left) will both be presiding over the meeting. No doubt there will be the usual spirited debate about AWARD and where it's going in the bar afterwards, so if you believe in AWARD, be there and have your say.

CB has just heard again from David Baldwin, partner and ECD of US hotshop McKinney Silver in Raleigh, Virginia and, more importantly, president of The One Club, that (at the last minute) David Nobay (left), executive creative director of Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney will be invited to judge The One Show this year (the main TV/Print jury), the first time an Australian has been invited in the show's 31 year history.
Baldwin (below right) says that Nobby was "soundly approved by the board to be a judge". He will join Todd McCracken, regional CD of Grey Asia Pacific, who is representing New Zealand - the first time a Kiwi has been invited. (McCracken relocated to KL last month but is still officially representing NZ).
Baldwin has been on our side since October last year, when it was first pointed out that an Aussie or Kiwi had never been invited, despite our considerable haul of metal won over the years, including Best of Show for Grey, Melbourne in the mid Nineties.
The 29 person jury includes 19 Americans, the most prominent being Chuck McBride, ECD of TBWA\Chiat\Day, San Francisco.
Of the 10 overseas jurors, half of them are from the Asia Pacific region:
Ravi Deshpande, Contract Advertising, Mumbai, India
Morihiko Hasebe, Hakuhodo, Tokyo, Japan
Todd McCracken, Grey Asia Pacific, New Zealand
Tham Khai Meng, Ogilvy & Mather Singapore, Singapore
Janet Kestin, Ogilvy & Mather, Toronto, Canada
Zak Mroueh, Taxi, Toronto, Canada
Betinna Olf, Springer & Jacoby, Germany
Erik Vervroegen, TBWA Paris, France
Ricardo Vior, la comunidad, Argentina...
... and nolw David Nobay, Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney
Judging will take place in New York in March with the The One Show presentation night slated for the Lincoln Centre in NYC in early May.

By the way, The One Way to get a bit more influence at The One Club, is to join, like Lynchy did last year. Go to

THE ONE CLUB

and click the membership button. It's only US$110 to become a member (cheaper than AWARD), which includes an airmailed copy of the The One Show annual (and as a member, you get your name in the book alongside the world greats young and old, including Phyllis Robinson, Lee Clow, David Abbott, John Hegarty, George Lois, Ed McCabe, Hal Riney, Amil Gargano, Cliff Freeman, Dan Wieden, John Hunt, Graham Warsop, David Lubars, Nancy Rice, Mark Waites and Erik Vervroegen).
You also receive the regular one.a magazine (brilliant) and email newsletters.
If the top 30 CDs from Australia and NZ became members (together with our senior teams and TVC production people), there is every chance we would get a regular slot on the jury each year.

ONE CLUB MEMBERS FROM AUSTRALIA AND NZ:
Andy Blood (Whybin TBWA, Auckland)
Matt Eastwood (DDB Sydney)
Sean Ganann (Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney)
Michael Lynch (Campaign Brief)
Todd McCracken (Grey Worldwide, KL)
Tom McFarlane (M&C Saatchi, Sydney)
Nick Worthington (Publicis Mojo, Auckland)

NEW MEMBERS SINCE FEB 14
Jay Benjamin (Saatchi & Saatchi, Auckland)
Luke Chess (Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney)
Andy DiLallo (Saatchi & Saatchi, Auckland)
Mike Doyle (Lime, Sydney)
Roy Faulkner (M&C Saatchi Sydney)
Damian Royce (Clemenger Blue Digital, Melbourne)

You don't have to have had something accepted at The One Show to become a member of The One Club, so why not sign up today. It's actually cheaper than buying The One Show annual alone!

When you do become a member, please let Lynchy know so I can add your name to the list above. Email me on michael@campaignbrief.com so I have an idea how many new One Club members sign up from this region.

A series of free, radio creative workshops for advertising agencies begin today in Sydney, run by international creative expert and creator of the award-winning radio brand campaign, Ralph van Dijk of Eardrum Australia.

The one-day workshops are part of a strategy by Commercial Radio Australia to help improve the education and training for creatives in advertising agencies and ultimately deliver better radio ads.

Chief executive officer, Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner said the radio industry must be proactive to help upskill and improve the talent working in radio advertising and the workshops, planned for throughout the year nationally, would assist with this strategy.

“We want Australian radio ads to be amongst the best in the world – and while some agencies are doing excellent work it is up to the industry to work further with agencies to help foster talent, ideas and world class standards," Ms Warner said.

Ms Warner said Commercial Radio Australia had contracted Mr van Dijk, who moved to Australia from the UK earlier this year, as a Creative Director with a general brief to promote radio as an advertising medium.

“Mr van Dijk will also help grow the industry’s Creative Advisory Planning Service which is aimed at helping advertisers and agencies use radio more effectively. This service provides creative advice to advertisers and agencies on how to better use radio - both from a planning and creative perspective - and can include existing users of radio or non-users."

Mr van Dijk will also continue to work on the industry’s brand campaign, which was developed by Eardrum Australia in 2003, and was short listed last year in the radio category at the prestigious Clio 2005 Awards in the USA.

The workshop held today in Sydney has representatives from agencies Saatchi & Saatchi, Singleton O&M, Publicis Mojo, Clemenger DDB and Euro RSCG. The agencies were selected because they work with clients that use radio or have potential to use radio.

“I have been running these workshops for the UK and Europe’s leading agencies and they never fail to inspire a greater level of enthusiasm for the medium. It’s about opening their eyes (and ears) to the potential of radio, and challenging the conventional ways of writing, casting and directing a radio ad," said Mr van Dijk.

The workshops combine a combination of theory and hands-on studio work and seek to inspire and challenge the traditional way of approaching a radio brief.

The latest full-year figures compiled by PricewaterhouseCoopers for the five major capital city markets show Australia’s metropolitan commercial radio stations attracted advertising revenue of $591 million in calendar year 2005 - a 6.2 per cent increase over 2004.

Ms Warner said the radio industry must continue to work on growing its share of the advertising pie and making better ads was an important part of this process.

The idea for the latest Tooheys New "Rain" spot is perhaps not so new. Compare it to this spot for MILLER LITE via Young & Rubicam in the U.S., created last year under then national CD Matt Eastwood, who of course is soon to take up the creative reigns at DDB Australia.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW

It’s here again -- the time of year when a season of inspiration and celebration commences with the launch of D&AD Congress 06 in London. Congress is a time when egos are crushed or exalted, careers are made, and anyone with a passion for creativity can engage with the best work from around the world.

Spanning four separate weeks between April and June, D&AD Congress 06 is the physical manifestation of D&AD’s work, demonstrating the breadth of its global activities. It brings together the entire creative community, educators, and members of the public, in what is now the largest event of its kind for the industry and for those involved in delivering and using creativity and innovation.

“D&AD Congress 06 is not just for the industry, but for everyone with an interest in creativity," said D&AD Chief Executive Michael Hockney. “We hope that this year’s Congress is going to be the best one yet, with more international judges, new categories and more public exhibitions and lectures than ever before."

D&AD Congress 06 is endorsed by: The City of London, The Department for Culture, Media & Sport, The Department of Trade and Industry, The Institute of Directors, The Lodon Development Agency/Creative London, and The Mayor of London.

Week One (Mon 3 April – Wed 5 April):
Global Awards 2006 Judging
Over 300 of the world’s most talented and awarded creative practitioners will spend the week in passionate debate (with the occasional argument), selecting the work that will go into the D&AD Annual 2006 and ultimately voting for the works that will be nominated for D&AD Yellow Pencils (Silver Awards).

Week Two (Wed 3 May – Fri 5 May):
Global Awards Nominations Exhibition; President’s Lecture: Massimo & Lella Vignelli; Global Student Awards Judging; Creativity Works selection
D&AD throws open the doors of Old Billingsgate in London for a public exhibition of D&AD Yellow Pencil-nominated work, including Insight Sessions on selected work for visitors who want to know more. D&AD Global Student Awards judging will be taking place that same week, with a building exhibition of the D&AD Yellow Pencil winners of the future running alongside the D&AD Global Awards nominations exhibition. A panel of senior members of the business community and leading creative practitioners will select work that will be developed into Creativity Works case studies, and the week will be topped off with a D&AD President’s Lecture: the first full-length talk in the UK from iconic designers Massimo & Lella Vignelli.

Week Three (Mon 22 May – Wed 24 May):
Global Awards Ceremony & Dinner; President’s Lecture: BBH Retrospective
The week commences with a D&AD President’s Lecture, as John Hegarty and Nigel Bogle look back at over 20 years of inspiring work at BBH. That same week, the leading creative practitioners in the world gather for the D&AD Global Awards Ceremony & Dinner, when D&AD Yellow Pencils are awarded in recognition of those who truly are obsessed with creativity. Ceremony guests will also be the first to find out if anyone has won a D&AD Black Pencil (Gold Award), and the winner of the prestigious D&AD President’s Award, presented in recognition of an outstanding contribution to the world of creativity.

Week Four (Mon 26 June – Thurs 29 June):
New Blood Exhibition, Global Student Awards and Global Awards Exhibitions; Global Student Awards Ceremony & Dinner; Lifeblood lectures; Training and advice sessions; President’s Global Forum on Asia
Week Four focuses on identifying and inspiring emerging talent, with the New Blood exhibition for universities and colleges, an exhibition of the Global Awards winners and Global Student Awards finalists, and the D&AD Global Student Awards Ceremony & Dinner. This week also includes a number of sessions designed to bring together the best new graduates with the most prestigious creative practitioners in the world at Lifeblood lectures and training and advice sessions. Members of the D&AD Jury 2006 will provide a Review of the Year – an event which is open to all and will be free of charge. The D&AD President’s Global Forum on Asia will include a panel drawn from advertising, design, government and education, which will show work and discuss design and advertising in Singapore.

D&AD is a not-for-profit organisation that represents the international design, advertising and creative communities. More than any other organisation, D&AD sets industry standards, educates and inspires the next generation and promotes the importance of creativity, innovation and ideas within the business community.

Visit www.dandad.org for further information.

Beer raining down from the heavens above… It sounds like some sort of amazing dream but Lion Nathan, via Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney has made this dream a reality in their new blockbuster TOOHEYS NEW ‘CATAPULT’ SPOT.
“In some ways, the concept behind ‘Catapult’ is completely insane, and yet the idea of wanting it to rain beer is also entirely plausible. When your lips are parched and the sun is up, a great beer certainly feels like a gift from the Gods... Tooheys New has just brought the dream to life for all to enjoy."
So says David Nobay, executive CD of Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney. “A shared glass of beer is like an invisible handshake. It’s the great Aussie unifier. And yet, for too long, the imagery behind mainstream beer has been skewed to such a narrow blokey bias that it has the opposite effect. It’s like a club you can’t join, unless you have the right face. The new Tooheys New campaign explodes all that crap and firmly recasts mainstream beer as champagne for the masses."
Adds Nobay: “Multi-award winning director Garth Davis is not only a champion bloke but an incredible director. Together with his producer Karen Sproul, he made this job everything we imagined it could be."
‘Catapult’ opens with people of all ages and backgrounds scattered across the tops of buildings in a city. As the shot pans in we notice they’ve got catapults and are shooting beer ingredients into the sky, but to no avail. Finally, after several failed attempts, the Tooheys Stag appears. He is their last hope and offers himself up to be catapulted into the sky. The stag proves the magic ingredient when a few seconds later the heavens open and precious Tooheys New rains from the sky. The people rejoice in the streets, collecting the golden brew with anything and everything they can lay their hands on.
“‘Catapult’ is about Tooheys New bringing people together to make great things happen. It’s all for the love of beer with the hero of the ad, the thing that brings the people together in happiness and celebration, being Tooheys New," says Lion Nathan marketing director - mainstream brands, Paul Foster.
“We’re excited about the ‘For the Love of Beer