As part of a three-day festival which includes several gala award ceremonies, screenings and parties, New York Festivals held its annual black-tie dinner and awards ceremony tonight for the 49th International Television, Cinema & Radio Advertising competition on the stage of the Hudson Theater in Times Square. Advertising executives and creatives from dozens of countries from around the world stepped up on stage to receive the four Grand Award top prizes as well as Gold, Silver and Bronze World Medals in the ceremony which was presided over by Board Chairman Jim Ferguson, who is also Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of TM Advertising/Dallas (formerly Temerlin McClain).

Medalists were selected from an entry pool of 2,500 television and radio ads from 83 countries this year. More than 100 creative directors representing 41 countries chose the best in product and consumer advertising, as well as public service advertising.

England, Australia and the United States each took top honors with Grand Awards, and they each topped the Gold World Medal list - the U.S. with 10, followed by the U.K. with 4 and Australia with 3. Germany and Canada also came away with 3 Golds each. The four Grand Awards, which were selected from the highest scoring Gold World Medal winners, are as follows:

 

Grand Award: Best TV Commercial
Wieden+Kennedy
Honda
"Grrr"
England
View "Grrr"

 

Grand Award: Best Creative/Production Achievement
Animal Logic
Carlton Draught
"Big Ad"
Australia
View "Big Ad"

 

Grand Award: Best Campaign
DDB Los Angeles
AmeriQuest Mortgage
"Mini Mart / Parking Meter / Surprise Dinner"
USA
View "Mini Mart / Parking Meter / Surprise Dinner"

 

Grand Award: Best Radio Commercial
Foote Cone & Belding NY
Eagle Idaho Volunteer Fire Department
"Solution"
USA
Hear "Solution"

 

Also at the evening award ceremony, the United Nations' Department of Public Information (UNDPI) honored agencies from Brazil, France and Indonesia with a special award for public service advertising. Since 1990, the UNDPI has recognized outstanding work at the New York Festivals annual gala that best exemplifies the goals and ideals of the United Nations.

This year's Gold UNDPI Award went to Leo Burnett Publicidade Ltda (Brazil) for "Favela", a print ad to raise awareness about poverty. The Silver UNDPI Award went to Leo Burnett Paris (France) for "The Hostages", a campaign for Enfance et Partage, an non-governmental organization working to prevent child abuse. The winner of the Bronze UNDPI Award was DDB Jakarta (Indonesia), for "Supermarket Baby", a television campaign about the illegal trafficking of infants for adoption.

New York Festivals also handed out Grand Awards and World Medals to winners of its AME Awards (Advertising & Marketing Effectiveness) competition, which is in its twelfth year. This competition honors the best marketing and creative strategies that focus on integrated advertising campaigns which use innovative strategic planning and well-crafted concepts. (For additional information about the AME Awards, visit www.ameawards.com.)

Two AME Grand Awards were conferred upon the following:

 

Grand Award: Best Product & Service
Jung von Matt
K-Fee
"K-Fee"
Germany
View "K-Fee"

 

Grand Award: Best Special Recognition
Nordpol+Hamburg
Renault Modus
"Modus: A Channel Hopper"
Germany
View "Modus: A Channel Hopper"

 

The awards ceremony was emceed by Billy Harris and produced by ByDesign.

The Television, Cinema & Radio Advertising and AME Awards ceremonies are part of a three day festival which includes daytime screenings of the award-winning work and more gala awards ceremonies for film and television. Yesterday, the festival opened at the Millennium Broadway Hotel with a Welcome Reception with special guest, Assistant Commissioner Julianne Cho of the Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre & Broadcasting, followed by a party at The Newspace titled "The Ball" which celebrated this winter's winners of New York Festivals Interactive and Media Awards and honored digital rights activist John Perry Barlow of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Tomorrow the festival continues with back-to-back galas at the Hudson Theater: NYF's Film & Video Awards followed by NYF's Television Programming & Promotions Awards.

 

View the TV, Cinema & Radio Advertising Winners

View the AME Awards Winners

About New York Festivals
The 49-year-old New York Festivals (NYF) produces six annual international awards competitions including Film & Video, Television Programming and Promotions, Radio Programming and Promotions, Television and Radio Advertising, Design, Print & Outdoor Advertising, and Interactive Media. Entries for each competition are judged both in the United States and overseas by panels of peers in their respective industries. Founded in 1957, the Manhattan-based NYF now has representation in 62 countries. For more information about NYF, visit www.newyorkfestivals.com.