As any sports fan can attest, it’s often the early-round matches in marquee tournaments like the World Cup or March Madness that provide the most drama and intrigue.
That's true with the first-ever Campaign Cup to determine the best Canadian ad of the 21st Century. With first-round voting closing on Monday (you can still vote here), we’ve got some super-tight contests that could potentially be swayed by just a few votes, while others appear to be unexpected blowouts.
With a random draw used to determine the first-round matchups, there are some intriguing contests, and truly great work that some may have expected to win it all could instead face elimination at the first hurdle.
Some of the tight battles include Sid Lee’s anthemic “We the North” for the Toronto Raptors, which has garnered just over half the votes in its match-up with Leo Burnett’s “Like a Girl” for P&G’s Always brand (which was a unanimous pick as the overall winner by Campaign’s editorial team). As we’ve seen all season though, the Raptors have struggled to hold onto a lead. Could that be the case here?
And there are battles that are even tighter than that. BBDO’s “Arctic Sun” for Tropicana, and Rethink’s “Beer Fridge” for Molson Canadian, are currently in a dead heat, while just two percentage points separate two other matchups: FCB’s “Runner 321” for Adidas and Tribal DDB’s “Our Food, Your Questions” for McDonald’s, and Juniper Park\TBWA’s “Signal for Help” for the Canadian Women’s Foundation and Taxi’s “Wheelchair” for Molson.
However, some of the tournament’s favourites, such as Cossette’s landmark “Undeniable” spot for SickKids Foundation, seem to be cruising towards a second-round berth. “Undeniable” has garnered nearly three-quarters of the votes in its first-round matchup with Cundari’s “Walls” spot for BMW.
And Ogilvy’s “Evolution,” which was one of the world's first viral brand videos and helped establish a template for Dove's marketing for the next two decades, has also garnered 72% of the voting in its matchup with John St.’s “Eat Together” for President’s Choice.
Another entry that appears to be comfortably heading to the tournament's “Sweet 16” is BBDO’s absurdist “Touch, Cat” for Skittles, which has garnered 74% of the votes in its match-up with the former JWT’s more heartfelt “Proud Fathers” spot for Tim Hortons.
Finally, the former Zig’s “It’s Not a Mistake” (better known as “Start the Car”) for IKEA is well ahead of Grey’s “Groceries Not Guns” campaign for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, garnering 72% of the vote.
There are still four days remaining before first-round voting closes however, and to quote an old adage, every vote truly does count.
