2008 Austin Addys

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Paul Bradshaw, ADDY Chair
(512) 496-4970, addys@austinadfed.com
Kelly Ayoub, Communications
(512) 944-7398, kelly@youraddressmagazine.com

The Austin Show—2008 ADDY Awards
Rocks Austin's Creative Community

GSD&M/Idea City and McGarrah/Jessee Win Top Honors With Best of Show Recognitions

AUSTIN, TEXAS (February 25, 2008), Austin Advertising Federation — More than 600 of Austin’s top creative talent attended The Austin Show—The 2008 ADDY® Awards on Friday, February 22 at the newly renovated Austin Music Hall to view and experience the crème de la crème creations produced by the city's leading advertising agencies. Keeping in tune with its newly-formatted theme, this year’s event was dubbed ‘everything Austin’ with Tex-Mex on the menu, music featuring local artists, and Best of Show trophies designed and made by Austin’s glass artist Kathleen Ash. GSD&M/Idea City and McGarrah/Jessee took home Best of Show awards for their stellar campaign work on high-profile accounts BMW and Shiner Beer.

GSD&M/Idea City won Best of Show Broadcast for their BMW “Hydrogen” TV spot, which featured eye-popping special effects: an automobile built from and dissolving into water drops, the tailpipe emissions from hydrogen vehicles. GSD&M led with 42 ADDYs, including 11 Gold, 20 Silver and 11 Bronze.

McGarrah/Jessee took Best of Show Print for the Shiner Beer “Burp” Direct Mail piece and a Special Judges Award for the Shiner Chicago Launch campaign. They placed second in total ADDYs with 29, including 12 Gold, 9 Silver and 8 Bronze.

Other Gold ADDY winners include Action Figure, C3 Presents, Foda Studio, Hixo, Milkshake Media, nFusion Group and Shiny Object. Winning TV spots and a complete list of winners may be viewed at www.austinaddys.com.

The Didi Stuart Best of Show Student Award went to UT Students Ani Munoz and Cameron Fleming for their Crest Pro Health entry. Students from Texas State University and Austin Community College also won student ADDYs. A special award, the Johnny Jones Excellence in Printing Award went to Foda Studio and The Whitley Printing Company for their piece for the Butler Brothers Construction Corporation.

Gold Austin ADDY winners move on to regional competition. Winners there are forwarded to the national ADDYs, one of the nation’s most competitive juried shows with over 60,000 entries and only 200 awards. In recent years Austin has done exceptionally well in national ADDY competition, three times placing second only to New York City in national ADDYs, well out of proportion to the size of the market.

"This was one of the toughest local competitions in Austin ADDY history because our creative community not only raised the bar within the industry but within themselves," said Pat Niekamp, president, Austin Ad Fed. "I truly believe Austin will again win at both district and national levels. The more well-deserved industry recognition Austin receives the better, as it can only accelerate this city to become one of the most respected ad communities in the country."

Nearly 700 pieces were entered to be critiqued by 2008 ADDY judges: Creative Director Monkey Watson of Wong Duty, Seattle; Editor Bryn Mooth of How Magazine; Executive Creative Director Bill Oberlander of McCann-Erickson NY and Chief Creative Officer Paul Hains of The Marketing Store, Toronto.

The annual Austin ADDY Awards is the largest and most recognized advertising event In Austin. This year, the association rebranded the Austin ADDYs as The Austin Show—2008 Austin ADDYs to keep in line with showcasing the theme of ‘Cool Little City, Great Big Ideas” to achieve the association’s goal of positioning Austin as one of the most respected ad communities in the country. In 2007, the Austin ADDYs included a live roller derby bout by A&E Network stars, the Lonestar Rollergirls, drawing in more than 700 attendees.

About the Austin Advertising Federation
As the “Unifying Voice for Advertising” the Austin Advertising Federation is the leading Central Texas professional association that brings together and serves corporate advertisers, agencies, media companies, suppliers, and academia. The organization’s 250 members are committed to making advertising a positive force in Austin’s economy and culture. For more information about the Austin Ad Fed, please visit www.austinadfed.com.

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