MJZ topped the list of production companies honored at the 16th annual AICP Show, The Art & Technique of the American Commercial, presented by the Association of Independent Commercial Producers. Tonight at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, 2,000 members of the advertising and production industry gathered to view the Show, an hour-long compendium of the best commercials of the previous year. Following its premiere at MoMA, the Show now goes on tour to museums and cultural institutions around the country and abroad.
A new category, Advertising Excellence/Next, debuted at this year’s Show. Next honors campaigns and executions comprising moving image elements across all media, both current and emerging. Honorees in the category are: “Still Free,” for Ecko Unlimited, directed by Randy Krallman of SMUGGLER for Droga 5; “Iconoclasts” for Grey Goose and The Sundance Channel, produced by @radical.media; and “Tea Partay” for Smirnoff, directed by Julien Christian Lutz, and produced by HSI Productions for Bartle Bogle Hegarty.

And for the first time ever, the Advertising Excellence/Single Commercial and Advertising Excellence/Campaign have one honoree each, making the honored spots in those categories the Best in Show. This year’s honoree for single commercial is American Express’ “Wes Anderson” produced by Moxie Pictures for Ogilvy & Mather. The campaign honoree is Geico’s Cavemen, comprising the spots “Airport,” “Topic” and “Therapy,” produced by Furlined for The Martin Agency.

The AICP has launched a new Show website, www.aicp.com/show, which makes available the commercials and the credits for all of the 16 Shows. This archive, which totals over 1,000 commercials, represents the work that each year is made part of the permanent collection of the Department of Film at MoMA, which has been AICP’s partner since the Show’s inception in 1992.

With eight honors in five categories, MJZ topped the field of honored production companies. Two Skittles spots, “Leak” and “Trade,” were honored for Humor, while “Snowball” for Traveler’s Insurance and “Arboretum” for Sears were honored for Visual Effects. “Arboretum” was additionally honored for Agency Art Direction. The Coca-Cola Company’s “Parade” and Fruit of the Loom Collection’s “Blue” were both honored for Original Music. American Legacy Foundation truth’s “Singing Cowboy” was honored for Public Service Announcement.

SMUGGLER scored five honors in four categories. “Still Free” for Ecko Unlimited was honored in the inaugural Advertising Excellence/Next category. “Sea of Skin” for Vaseline was honored for Production and Cinematography. “Ring” for eBay was honored for Production Design, while “Omnibus” for Sprite was honored in the Sound Design Category.

Anonymous Content (in co-production with Gorgeous Enterprises ‘ for whom Anonymous reps its directors for U.S. work ‘ and Digital Domain), Hungry Man and Moxie Pictures received four honors each. HSI Productions, Park Pictures and PSYOP each received three honors.

Director Bryan Buckley of Hungry Man led the directorial honors with three spots. Burger King Whopper’s “More Mayo” was honored for Production Design, while Burger King Texas Double Whopper’s “Manthem” scored an honor for Musical Arrangement. “Animals” for American Express was honored for Editorial.

Directors receiving two honors were: Wes Anderson of Moxie Pictures; Dante Ariola of MJZ; Dayton/Faris of Bob Industries; Martin Granger of Moxie; Brent Harris of Egg; Tom Kuntz of MJZ; Todd Mueller and Kylie Matulick of PSYOP; Rupert Sanders of MJZ; Speck/Gordon of Furlined; and Ivan Zacharias of SMUGGLER.

Among agency honorees, Wieden+Kennedy led the field with seven honors. Four of the honors were for work done via the Portland, Ore., office of the agency, while three were for work done through the Amsterdam office. Nike Zoom LeBron IV “Pool” and The Coca-Cola Company’s “Happiness Factory” were both honored for Visual Style. “Happiness Factory” was also honored for Animation. In Original Music, honors were bestowed upon Nike Golf’s “Swing” and The Coca-Cola Company’s “Parade.” Nike Air Max 360’s “Defy” was honored in Cinematography.

Young & Rubicam (both the Chicago and New York offices) received five honors. Bartle Bogle Hegarty, BBDO, Crispin, Porter + Bogusky, and TBWAChiatDay, New York, all received four honors.

Among advertisers, The Coca-Cola Company was the most honored brand, with four honors. American Express, Hewlett Packard and Nike each received three honors. Among product categories, Electronics led the field with nine honors; Apparel and Beverages each received eight honors.

The AICP Show reel features custom-designed graphics by Version 2 Editing/Design/VFX, and an original score composed by Sacred Noise. The Show’s sponsor reel was designed by Lifelong Friendship Society. Pete Drungle Music provided the score for the sponsor reel.

Selections of the honored work were made by 300 judges across the country, including a blue ribbon curatorial committee composed of distinguished members of the industry from advertising agencies, production companies, editorial companies and others. The Next category was judged by a separate panel comprised of leading-edge practitioners from the commercial creative community.

After its debut at MoMA, the Show goes on tour across the United States and abroad. The Show will screen in Los Angeles on July 25th at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; in Minneapolis on Sept. 6th at the Guthrie Theatre; in San Francisco on Sept. 10th at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and in Chicago on Nov. 15th at the Chicago Historical Museum. Screenings of the Show in Richmond, Dallas and Miami are to be determined.