The inaugural British Television Advertising Craft Awards, which take
place on Saturday, promise to honour a wider spectrum of commercials
than rival awards ceremonies.
The shortlist - comprising the top three entrants in each of the 19
categories - reveals that, along with familiar D&AD winners such as
Guess Jeans’ ‘cheat’, and Golden Wonder’s ‘walker’, are less obvious
offerings such as Entenmann’s ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ through J. Walter
Thompson, and the Worthingtons spot starring Harry Enfield as ‘Paula’
through WCRS.
A younger, less ‘establishment’ jury, including the directors, Daniel
Barber, Tarsem and Chris Palmer, has been charged with setting
‘benchmark standards’ that will gain instant prestige for the new
awards.
Peter Bigg, the awards administrator, said: ‘The BTACA awards are about
advertising craft, not ads. There are several films shortlisted that
wouldn’t win at the Grosvenor House.’
Commercials created by Tony Kaye and Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, the
director and agency who have scooped a large number of D&AD pencils in
the past two years, get only one mention on the BTACA shortlist.
Instead, Butler Lutos Sutton Wilkinson’s ‘boiled bear’ ad for the Tusk
Force environmental charity is shortlisted for best soundtrack, and J.
Walter Thompson has made the last three in the best animation category
for its Smarties ‘smarti pants’ film.
The BTACA awards take place at the Business Design Centre in Islington,
North London, and will be introduced by the television film critic,
Barry Norman. The 100-strong judging panel, which also includes
established names such as John Webster, the executive creative director
of BMP DDB, and Adrian Holmes, the chairman of Lowe Howard-Spink, all
studied the entries on video from the comfort of their own homes.
