Venables Bell & Partners scored Best of Show last night at the 43rd annual One Show Awards on the basis of its #OptOutside campaign for REI whereby the retailer closed its stores on Black Friday so that their employees and customers could instead enjoy the great outdoors, spending the time around Thanksgiving to be with family and friends.
Also coming up big during Friday evening’s award ceremony at Cipriani Wall Street in NYC were The Martin Agency and its client GEICO. The Martin Agency was recognized at The One Show as Agency of the Year. Additionally Martin and GEICO teamed to receive the inaugural Penta Pencil, an award given to an agency-brand team who together have created outstanding work for five or more consecutive years. Furthermore, GEICO was named Client of the Year.
“Winning Agency of the Year is huge, but I’m most proud of the Penta Pencil,” said Joe Alexander, chief creative officer of The Martin Agency. “Doing great work that brings great results consistently year after year is tough to do. Like Warren Buffett has said, ‘When I count my blessings at night, I count GEICO twice.’ We couldn’t agree more, Mr. Buffett.”
Of the 32 winning entries, campaigns included GEICO’s “Fast Forward,” GEICO’s “It’s What You Do,” OREO’s “Colorfilled” and Tic Tac’s “Little Loader”–all from The Martin Agency.
“The relationship between GEICO and The Martin Agency has resulted in three special awards at this year’s One Show: Agency of the Year, Client of the Year and the inaugural Penta Pencil, which recognizes great work between a brand and an agency over a five-year period,” said Kevin Swanepoel, CEO of The One Club which produces The One Show. “From a troupe of characters that became household names to innovative work like the 'Unskippable' campaign, GEICO and The Martin Agency have shown that loyalty matters.”
Also garnering a Penat Pencil was Wieden+Kennedy for its body of work on behalf of client Old Spice.
Earning Network of the Year distinction was BBDO with eight of its agencies winning Gold Pencils. WPP took the Creative Holding Company of the Year mantle.
The following are the Best in Discipline winners:
Film
Harvey Nichols’ “Shoplifters”
adam&eve DDB London
Blink London, The Mill London
Interactive
visit.brussels’ “Call Brussels”
Air Brussells
Lovo Films, Globule Bleu, +White, Brussels
Cross-Platform
REI’s “#OptOutside”
Venables Bell & Partners, Tool of North America, North Kingdom, Edelman
Intellectual Property
Cirec Foundation’s “Intellectual Property”
Publicis Colombia, Bogota; Cirec Foundation, Bogota
Social
Taco Bell’s “Taco Emoji Engine”
Deutsch LA
Mobile
what3words’ “The world addressed”
what3words, London
UX/UI
L’Oreal Paris’ “Make Up Genius”
McCann Paris, Image Metrics, Las Vegas, My Studio Factory, Paris
Radio
ADN’s “Learning on the way”
Sancho BBDO, Bogota
For a full agency-by-agency rundown of One Show winners, click here.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More