R/GA’s “Love Has No Labels” campaign returns with 2 nominations; 72andSunny’s year in review for Google scores nod for 2nd straight year
By Robert Goldrich
LOS ANGELES --R/GA’s “Love Has No Labels” campaign is now worthy of, among its assorted other plaudits, having a TV Academy label affixed to it. Last year the signature “Labels” X-ray piece for the Ad Council–with its message of inclusiveness, featuring dancing and kissing skeletons–won the coveted primetime commercial Emmy. And now two more PSAs in the “Love Has No Labels” campaign–”Love Cam” and “We Are America”–have earned Emmy nominations as R/GA bids to score a second straight Emmy Award.
The sense of déjà vu from last year’s spot Emmy derby to the current competition isn’t confined to the R/GA fare. Also nominated this year is 72andSunny’s “Year in Search 2016” short for Google. This marks the second consecutive year that the Google year-in-review piece from 72andSunny has garnered a nomination.
Rounding out the current field of primetime spot Emmy nominees are Squarespace’s “Calling JohnMalkovich.com” from agency John X Hannes, and Gathering For Justice’s “Why I March” from mcgarrybowen.
Nominations were announced this morning (7/13) at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences' headquarters in North Hollywood, Calif.
Miles Jay of Smuggler directed the Squarespace entry which aired during this year’s Super Bowl. In the humorous ad, actor Malkovich is in his design studio talking on the phone to someone who has already claimed the domain name JohnMalkovich.com. This raises the question of who is being John Malkovich as the famous thespian tries to convince the other Malkovich to give him back his “rightful” domain name.
Nanette Burstein of Hungry Man directed “Why I March” in which celebs and others explain what drives them to participate in the then upcoming Women’s March (which took place in 370 locations worldwide in January 21, 2017), a show of support for women’s and civil rights, intended to send a message to the new Trump administration in Washington D.C.
Google’s stirring retrospective of 2016 was produced by 72andSunny’s in-house studio Hecho en 72.
Rocky Morton of MJZ directed Ad Council’s “We Are America,” a three-and-a-half minute video in the “Love Has No Labels” campaign. “We Are America” introduces us to a diverse mix of folks, underscoring that the country is blessed by a full spectrum of age, talents, sexual orientation, race, religion and gender. Featured in the piece is mega WWE wrestling star John Cena.
And helming the Ad Council “Kiss Cam” was Floyd Russ from Tool of North America. The video puts a twist on the traditional sports stadium jumbotron “kiss cam” by replacing it with an unbiased camera depicting positive expressions of love, unity, diversity and acceptance across race, religion, gender, sexuality, ability and age.
The winner of the primetime commercial Emmy Award will be announced and honored during the Creative Arts Emmy ceremony, which takes place in Los Angeles come September.
Changes Afoot For Cannes Lions 2025, Including Increasing Festival Access For Underserved Communities
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is putting plans in motion for its 72nd edition, set to take place from June 16-20, 2025 in Cannes, France. The Festival has announced that it will double funding to provide €2m (some $2,150,000) worth of complimentary passes to underrepresented talent and underserved communities through its Equity, Representation and Accessibility (ERA) Pass, returning for a second year.
Frank Starling, chief DEI officer, Lions, said the increased investment was “crucial to continue to drive progress for both Cannes Lions and the industry.” Starling added, “The ERA pass plays an important role in fostering a global representation of talent within the creative communications industry at Cannes Lions, and to date our funded opportunities have reached creatives in 46 countries globally. With the Festival being the destination for everyone in the business of creativity, we recognize the importance of creating equitable access to it, and this is why we’re prioritizing increased representation from the Global South to support a greater range of voices and perspectives from the region at the Festival.” Applications for the ERA pass are open now and close on December 5, 2025. More details can be found here.
With submissions into the Cannes Lions Awards opening on January 16, 2025, innovations to the Awards have also been announced today. Glass: The Lion for Change celebrates 10 years since its introduction. The Glass Lion was launched to champion work that used creativity to drive a shift towards more positive, progressive and gender-aware communication, and Marian Brannelly, global... Read More