First Published By: Adweek
Leo Burnett Chicago’s gun violence protest campaign for Change the Ref, “The Lost Class,” took home numerous honors at this year’s Clio Awards, including several Grand Clios.
“The Lost Class” was honored in several categories, including Grand Clio wins in Experiential/Activation, Integrated Campaign and Print. The campaign featured NRA leaders delivering a speech to 3,044 empty seats, each representing a would-be graduate from the class of 2021, who lost their lives to gun violence. The work in total earned 22 trophies.
In addition to the category wins, Change the Ref was named Advertiser of the Year, and Leo Burnett Chicago won Agency of the Year.
Manuel and Patricia Oliver accepted the Advertiser of the Year award for Change The Ref, which was founded in the memory of their son Joaquin, who was a victim of the Parkland High School shooting.
The Branded Entertainment prize went to “Sick Beats,” by Area 23, a campaign for what is considered the world’s first music-powered airway clearance vest for people with cystic fibrosis. That campaign also won the radio and audio Grand Prix at Cannes.
Another Cannes Grand Prix winner took the Grand Clio Creative Effectiveness award, the “Courage is Beautiful” effort by Ogilvy UK for Dove, while the Fashion & Beauty Grand Clio went to “Fashion’s Foray into the Metaverse” by Epic Games for Fortnite and Balenciaga.
Reddit’s “Superb Owl” five-second Super Bowl spot by R/GA took the Innovation Grand Clio for its succinct but highly effective stunt.
The Out of Home prize went to the highly effective “Shutter Ads” by Publicis Italy for Heineken, which also won at Cannes.
Public Relations honors went to “The Bread Exam” by McCann Paris for Spinneys and the Lebanese Breast Cancer Foundation, while the Social Media Grand Clio went to Google’s “Black-Owned Friday” by BBH USA.
BBDO was named the Network of the Year, while Rethink took the top Independent Agency of the Year. Hungry Man was named Production Company of the Year.
Honors and tributes
Other honors went to director, writer and producer Peter Berg, who was given the award by Verizon CMO Diego Scotti, and makeup artist Pat McGrath, who received the 2022 Honorary Clio Award.
The night also featured a tribute to Tony Gulisano, who served in several positions at the Clio Awards over 26 years, including managing director. He was the global chief growth officer of The One Club when he passed away in March 2022.
A new specialty award competition for 2023 was introduced by Roland Hamilton, senior vice president, licensing for Jukin Licensing. Entries for the The Jukin Licensing Emerging Creative Award will open in September 2022 and will ask entrants to create a campaign featuring user generated content from Jukin’s vast library.
The Clio Awards were hosted by Jai Rodriguez at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York City.