BBDO New York's 'Back to School Essentials' PSA for Sandy Hook Promise Wins Inaugural Storytelling for Good Clio Award
Sheena Bermingham
BBDO NEW YORK’S ‘BACK TO SCHOOL ESSENTIALS’ PSA FOR SANDY HOOK PROMISE WINS INAUGURAL STORYTELLING FOR GOOD CLIO AWARD ATPARK CITYBRAND STORYTELLING EVENT
PARK CITY—(January 23, 2019)— Clio, the premier international awards competition for the creative business, and Brand Storytelling, an industry-leading B2B media company exclusively built to support and inspire investment in the practice of brand-funded content, today revealed BBDO New York’s “Back to School Essentials” PSA for Sandy Hook Promise as the inaugural Storytelling for Good Award winner.
“We are honored to partner with Clio to present this inaugural award at the 5th annual Brand Storytelling. BBDO New York’s work for Sandy Hook Promise provides hope and inspiration about such a necessary message in today’s world. All of the program’s nominees are exemplary examples of creative geniuses who inspire audiences with their impactful work,” said Rick Parkhill, Brand Storytelling Director.
The award celebrates branded entertainment and content that promotes or creates awareness for a cause, foundation, organization and/or political or social issue. It was presented by Clio president Nicole Purcell on day one of Brand Storytelling from the Stein Eriksen Lodge during the 2020 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
“We’ve seen a substantial increase in purpose-driven branded entertainment and marketing entries at The Clio Awards and we really wanted to find a way to celebrate this meaningful work in front of the community of people that specialize in creating it,” said Purcell. “The success of BBDO New York’s campaign goes to show that when you take a creative approach to even the most difficult stories, you can capture millions of people’s attention and – hopefully—do some real good.”
The program’s jurors were tasked with choosing from a pool of entries that ranged from a long-form documentary about heroic nurses in the early days of the AIDS epidemic to a series of Instagram stories created to educate a new generation about the Holocaust. The winning film starts out like any other cheerful back-to-school ad, but soon takes a darker turn, ending with a series of vignettes pointing to how truly essential it is for students to learn how to spot the signs of a potential shooter. Despite its challenging message, the PSA was an instant success, having received 26 million views within the first 24 hours of its release. The video was shared by celebrities like Kim Kardashian as well as 11 of the 2020 Democratic Presidential candidates.
"We know that worrying about school shootings and lockdown drills has sadly become part of the back-to-school tradition for many in the US." said Peter Alsante, Senior Creative Director. "We wanted to encourage people to reject this as the ‘new normal’ by showing them that gun violence is preventable." added Bianca Guimaraes, VP, Creative Director, BBDO NY.
The Clio Awards is the premier international awards competition for the creative business. Founded in 1959 to celebrate creative excellence in advertising, the Clio Awards today honors the work and talent at the forefront of the advertising in the sports, fashion, music, entertainment, and health care industries. Noting the diverse and ever-changing creative landscape, Clio acquired and revamped global ad database Ads of the World and re-launched its content platform musebycl.io in 2018 to celebrate creativity 365-days-a-year.
About Brand Storytelling
Brand Storytelling is an industry-leading B2B media company, exclusively serving the burgeoning practice of brand-funded content. The company produces invitation-only events that bring together brand marketers and their storytelling partners, including; media and production companies, content studios, platforms, PR and creative agencies. The 5th annual Brand Storytelling at Sundance Film Festival will take place January 22-26 in Park City, Utah. The Brand Storytelling live events, newsletter and YouTube Channel are all created to support and inspire brand investment and excellence in non-interruptive content.