Where Rockers Chow

by David Burn on March 28, 2006

This is a good ad from Duncan/Channon, but I find it difficult to believe it’s the Best of Show winner in the latest San Francisco Addys competition.
Hard Rock Fork Where Rockers Chow awards
Adweek says it is, so I guess I need to accept that the Bay Area ad community has fallen on tough times. Either that, or the judges were unanimous in their fondness for mullet bands.

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http://www.danny-g.net Danny G

It could also be–and I don’t know, just guessing–that many big agencies like Goodby or other creative Bay area shops don’t enter the local ADDYS because they primarily deal with national/international shows. There was an agency in Cleveland that spent years sweeping the ADDYS, then decided not to enter one year in order to “concentrate” on other award shows. They didn’t win much in those.
http://gshsf.com karenwalker

We have a local ad club? My guess is Danny G is right. With such great shops in town, most are probably content to compete at a higher level. And aiming for work that’s competetive on a national and international level probably makes for better work.
Nothing against the ad, of course. It’s pretty funny.
http://gshsf.com karenwalker

We have a local ad club? My guess is Danny G is right. With such great shops in town, most are probably content to compete at a higher level. And aiming for work that’s competetive on a national and international level probably makes for better work.
Nothing against the ad, of course. It’s pretty funny.
http://jroth@integerdenver.com jay

I support the ADDYs. Here’s why:
Say you’re a small shop in Topeka. You have the Cauliflower Growers of Kansas account. It is you’re largest. Even better, your work rocks and rolls. Big time rocks and rolls. You compete against a few other shops in Topeka and your stuff takes best of show at the ADDYs. Well done. Feel good. Feel real good.
Because now, you’re entering CA. Against Mini. And VW. And Nike. And Timberland. And Harley. And the list goes on. Guess who’s going to win? Again and again and again. Those big international companies will get the nod, because they have momentum and clout. Sure, they do great work, too. But judges have a bad bad tenacity to see a Nike ad and say, “Oh. That’s from Nike. W+K must’ve done that.” Cha-ching. (Why wouldn’t blurry-eyed judges do that after scanning several thousand?)
So now that are Topeka agency creatives are licking its wounds. It has a hard time attracing talent, getting bigger maybe regional accounts, and moving up in the world. Their confidence is on the floor being mopped up as they stare at a ceiling. And it ain’t glass.
http://adpulp.com David Burn

Jay,
If your hypothetical Topeka agency were busy “licking its wounds” over an industry awards show, they might want to pull their heads from their collective asses, quick like.
Awards have a place. I recognize that. But too much emphasis is placed on them.
Maybe if we had a viewer’s award show, like MTV does, it would mean more. I mean, wouldn’t you rather know that millions of people voted for your work, over what we have now—a tight little clique of highly decorated CDs, deeply embedded in the awards show culture (and thus attached to perpetuating it, as is)?
Carl LaFong

Gotta agree with David on this one.
I’ve frequently railed against the absurd importance placed on winning award shows, so I won’t bother to repeat myself here. I would only point out that, in a way, there already is a “viewer’s award show.” It’s called the marketplace. If people like an ad, they vote with their wallet. OK, that’s a bit simplistic, but you get the drift. Shouldn’t doing good work be its own reward?
I also agree that this year’s Best of Show winner in the San Francisco ADDYs, while good, is hardly great. Not only is it not even close to being the best ad to come out of the Bay Area in the past year, it’s not even the best ad to come out of Duncan/Channon. They are one of those unsung agencies doing terrific work that routinely gets overlooked in favor of the usual suspects.
Speaking of which, while I know I’m a first-class schmuck for pointing this out, check out the Trumer Pils ads on Duncan/Channon’s website. Remind you of a certain car campaign that was recently the subject of much passionate debate on this blog?
I’m certainly not accusing anyone of stealing anything. It just goes to show how glib and obvious those puns were in the first place.
By the way, Danny G, according to the press release on Duncan/Channon’s website announcing their Best of Show win, they claim to have competed against “Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, Publicis, Venables Bell & Partners, McCann Erickson, BBDO, DDB and Grey San Francisco.”
http://www.danny-g.net Danny G

You’re correct, Carl. Good spotting.
The entire winner’s book is here, for what it’s worth. Still, though, I can’t imagine Goodby entered much, because they didn’t win much.
Duncan/Channon did a pretty funny Christmas video card some years back, as I recall.