Could we be in for an “upset” in the first-ever Campaign Cup?
While 32 campaigns are vying for the honour of the “Greatest Canadian Ad of the 21st Century,” some early reader feedback has suggested a potential winner that, somewhat fittingly, may not have been among the presumptive favourites.
Voting for all 16 matchups in round one began yesterday. We've divided our March M(ad)ness bracket in half for the first round, but you can vote on all 16 matchups now: See eight of the matchups here (1B) and the other eight matchups here (1A).
With voting underway, we also asked some industry experts to share a few comments about which first-round matchups interest them.
The 1B side of the bracket, for example, features some true heavyweights, including Dove “Evolution,” Molson’s “The Rant,” and “Diamond Shreddies,” the latter two of which are going head-to-head in one of the most intriguing early-round matchups.
In this one, Michael Murray, co-founder and chief creative officer of Berners Bowie Lee, is going with “Diamond Shreddies,” an inspired piece of work from Ogilvy. Murray was similarly enthusiastic, describing it as “lateral brilliance on a brief that was probably going nowhere fast.”
Another entry from the 1B side of the bracket is Sid Lee’s anthemic “We the North” for the Toronto Raptors—a piece we wrote about in depth on the eve of the team’s successful appearance in the NBA Finals back in 2019.
It was the pick to win it all for Ari Elkoulby, chief creative officer at VML, who has it knocking off several heavyweights including “Like a Girl” for P&G’s Always brand, and Downtown Partners’ “Bud Light Institute” on its way to the final—where he has it nudging out SickKids Foundation’s landmark fundraising initiative, which kicked off with “Undeniable.”
Both of the final two campaigns employ a similar underdog strategy, said Elkouby: Sick kids versus their medical battles, and the Raptors of “We the North” embracing their outsider status in a U.S. sports league.
“I think this work resonates with Canadians so well because it taps into our own underdog status in the world which is very much a part of the Canadian psyche,” said Elkouby.
“We fight for relevancy on the world stage and are often pitted up against larger, more imposing opponents. It a role we cherish, being underestimated, even counted out. It’s what fuels us and our industry to create the world class work on this bracket. We are the north, the outsiders, the underdogs, we are the brave kids that keep battling against all odds and it’s why we win.”
Over on the 1A side of the bracket, two much-lauded campaigns from the former Zig are going head-to-head: “Prison Visitor” for Vim cleaner, and “Cam’s Breast Exam” for the Breast Cancer Society of Canada.
Murray cast his vote for “Prison Visitor,” calling it “hands-down” the best TV spot of 2004. “It does what good Canadian TV does best—using a small budget with a simple idea that can be well-executed,” he said.
In another 1A match-up pitting two markedly different campaigns—the humour-driven approach of Taxi’s “Golf,” “Office,” and “Coach" for Viagra, versus the true-to-life of “Unapologetically Human” for Kruger—Murray went with the little blue pill.
He was a writer on Taxi’s Viagra work, and cited the degree of difficulty in making pharma advertising engaging and entertaining as one of the reasons for his vote. “People think it’s easy, but not only do you have to get around insane pharma laws, but research too,” he said. “These spots are near perfect.”
But Murray, too, has “We the North” as the overall winner. “The reason we are in this business is to sell stuff by shifting culture and categories. Yet practically none of our work has had true impact beyond our case study claims,” he explained.
"'We the North’ gave fans belief and it carves an identity for a Canadian team in a U.S. sport. I love how it owns the "North" and makes it a point of pride; a fuck you to the US fans who looked at our basketball team as second class.”
