2015 CLIO Awards Honor Good Deeds

The 56^th annual CLIO Awards honored the best in advertising this past Wednesday, rewarding the best in print, digital and video production. The CLIO Awards have expanded throughout the course of its history to include international applicants, many of the awards this year went to international campaigns. This year’s awards favored music and highlighted advertisements that promoted good causes. 

Though many of the awards given this year went to American agencies, no companies from Utah were recognized.

Forbes noted the CLIOs have become more specific as the industry evolves. Music led the evening, with performances by X Ambassadors and Salt N Pepa, both of whom enjoyed success this past year working with Jeep and Geico, respectively. Forbes reported that there were also multiple music-only awards given out. 

If the music trend holds, the agency behind Target’s innovative live Grammy commercial featuring Utah natives Imagine Dragons could take home a trophy next awards season. 

As wind power is becoming a more popular energy source in states such as Utah, renewable energy proponents should take inspiration from the EPURON and the German Ministry for the Environment’s Power of Wind campaign. The INTER+-POL video production was inducted into the CLIO Film Hall of Fame.

The video advertisement showcases an interview with an odd-looking man who feels that he is misunderstood. “People just didn’t seem to like me,” he says as footage shows him pulling up a woman’s skirt. “I think I annoy them,” he states as he throws playground sand into the face of a young girl. 

The melancholic humor continues until, one day, everything changed. “Somebody finally accepted me.” Mr. Wind was offered a job. The ad ends with him spinning a wind turbine in his office. The advertisement’s call for more wind production was relevant to the do-good focus of the awards ceremony.

According to Forbes, the most touching moments of the ceremony were during the speeches from campaign creators whose work focused on good deeds and bettering mankind. Companies were applauded for using their marketing budgets to highlight important issues and causes, such as domestic violence, LGBT equality and female genitalia mutilation. 

The 2015 CLIO Awards recognized the rock stars of the advertising world last Wednesday night and celebrated a year’s worth of hard work and innovation. Most of the awards given went to the heavyweights from major cities around the world. Maybe next year the underdog, such as a small agency from Utah or some other small market, will take home a trophy of their own.