Ogilvy Johannesburg was awarded one of the highest honors at the 25th London International Awards (LIA) on Tuesday night, 8 November, It won a Grand Prix in the TV category for its much-lauded Selinah commercial for HIV/Aids relief organisation The Topsy Foundation.
The LIA sets out to honour new ideas in Advertising, Design and Digital Media and this year attracted a record 13,562 entries from 79 countries. This is the first time in the history of the awards that a South African agency has won a Grand Prix for TV, arguably the most highly anticipated category of all.
The winning ad, produced by Egg Films and directed by Kim Geldenhuys, features the true story of Selinah, an Aids sufferer who experiences the reversal of the ravaging effects of her disease over a period of 90 days through the administration of anti-retrovirals (ARVs). On top of the Grand Prix, the adalso picked up a gold LIA for original music.
Since it aired earlier this year, Selinah has garnered critical acclaim both locally and internationally, winning the first Gold Cannes Lion Award for a South African agency in over a decade. In the last month alone, the campaign also picked up a Gold Loerie and Gold Pendoring..
“Since the launch of the campaign earlier this year, we have seen an unprecedented influx of support from donors, and the number of patients requesting ARV treatment has also risen sharply,’ says Sylvia de Jager, Executive Director at the Topsy Foundation. “We are humbled that Selinah’s story of hope and recovery has also captured the hearts of an international audience.’
Ogilvy Johannesburg’s Fran Luckin, Executive Creative Director, said after the awards: “The fact that a campaign that is so close to all our hearts has had such a fantastic year is incredibly rewarding. This was a labor of love for all of us, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the dedication of the production crew, who filmed Selinah every day for three months, and the commitment of the creative team who saw their vision literally come alive before their eyes.’
