<FONT COLOR="#FF0033"><B>Countdown to Abby 2006:</B></FONT> Grey banks on ‘Scary Face’ and ‘Beggar Boy’

While the world and its sister are obsessed with awards in the Film category, Grey Worldwide is looking in another direction. For the Abby Awards 2006, the agency is counting on the Press and Outdoor categories to fetch it some coveted metals.

The agency has entered three of its ads in the Press category. The first is an ad for the matrimonial website, Matchseekers.com, titled ‘Map’, in the Press: Services category. The creative shows a map of the world, where, instead of landmarks and cities, there are the names of people.

“So Brazil becomes Brijesh,” explains Raj Kurup, regional creative director, Grey Worldwide. The punch line goes, ‘Find that someone, somewhere’.

The other two entries are ‘Logo’ and ‘Tom & Jerry’ for Haier in the Press: Consumer Durables category and ‘Scary Face’ for Kiwi Shoe Polish in the Press: Healthcare, Household Care, Toiletries and Cosmetics category.

“‘Scary Face’ is an ad that we hold close to our hearts and we think it should fetch us something,” Kurup says. The visual shows a man’s face in a dark room, with light shining on his face as though someone is holding a torch below it. “The idea is to portray that Kiwi Shoe Polish makes your shoes shine… and how!” grins Kurup.

In the Outdoor: Public Service category, Grey has ‘Beggar Boy’, made for Childcare India. This ad is already a winner – it fetched Grey a bronze each in the Outdoor Single and Outdoor Campaign categories at the Asia Pacific Advertising Festival held earlier this year. The idea was executed in Bangalore, with the glass windows at various restaurants and malls having life-like images of beggar boys staring inside. The ‘Push’ sign at the door was replaced with a sign that said, ‘Push them out of begging, and not just out of your way’. A call to action number was pasted below that.

Grey has also entered a banner that it made for Lion’s Eye Bank, ‘Choice’, in the Interactive Digital Marketing category. This ad, too, had bagged a silver at the Asia Pacific Ad Fest. The banner has a statement sprawled across it, ‘I would like to donate my eyes’, with two check boxes for ‘Yes’ and ‘No’, respectively.

If you clicked on ‘Yes’, then a face would be formed on the screen, with the check box becoming one eye on the face (the other there by default). A message would then appear, ‘Thanks to you, there will be one less blind person in the world’. A call to an action number would then be provided.

“If, instead, you clicked ‘No’, you would see the same face with only one eye, which is the default one, thus making you feel ashamed of your choice, because a face without one eye looks rather out of the ordinary,” Kurup explains.

In the Film category, Grey has two entries – ‘Cow’ for Orbit White in the Food and Beverage category and ‘Village’ for Child Relief and You (CRY) in the Public Service category.

© 2006 agencyfaqs!