GETTY IMAGES ULTIMATE CHALLENGE: TINNING AND WALLINGTON WIN SCARPELLI’S PLACE AT CANNES
An idea conceived by Marketforce Perth creative director Andrew Tinning with partner Gabrielle Wallington and entered by Tinning and the agency has beaten off 670 entries from around the world to win the Getty Images Ultimate Challenge.
The brief was to come up with an idea that would have a ripple effect across the world. Any idea, as long as it has the potential to make a difference in the world on some level.
By winning the competition Tinning and Wallington win business class trips to this year’s Cannes International Advertising Festival to enjoy the hospitality of DDB’s worldwide chief creative officer Bob Scarpelli. They will both be given Scarpelli’s delegate pass for the festival and vip entries to all the best parties, a delux hotel room and Scarpelli’s dinner reservations at Cannes’ finest restaurants.
The winning entry is titled Green Unltd. – a virtual company that people can join and follow simple ideas that help reduce greenhouse emissions.
The judging panel was Bob Scarpelli, Lewis Blackwell (Creative advisor Getty Images UK), Jonah Bloom (executive Editor Advertising Age USA), Claire Beale (Editor Campaign UK); David Nobay (Droga 5) and Armin Jochum (Chief Creative Officer, BBDO Stuttgart Germany).
“Big problems can often be solved with seemingly small gestures”, said Scarpelli. “Because sometimes it just takes a simple step to galvanize people to really make a difference. I believe that this is what this idea has the power to do. The judges and I loved the simplicity and the audacity of the idea. And we believe it is an idea that can make a world of difference. ‘Green Unltd’ can happen…If we want it to.”
View the Green Unltd video.
Download the doco:
58 Comments
Very similar to that ‘Al Qaeda’ idea from 1989…
Couldn’t have happened for a nicer bloke. Well done. Make sure you trash the room.
Great that an Aussie crew have won it. Well done.
now you save the planet. you very very very clever westcoaster in every way, well done old bean.rt.
Can I just be the first to say that it’s a fucking brilliant idea.
Nicely written, persuasive, and utterly necessary. I can see it going worldwide.
Well done.
Better than a pointless one hour in the dark anyway.
Bloody Fantastic! Well deserved!
Drinks on you in the gutter Tinning! S.
Congratulations, that’s fantastic. But…
– page 3, second sentence: ‘It’s’ has been used incorrectly instead of ‘Its’ (‘It’s product is the effect…)
– page 11: the word ‘of’ seems to be missing from after ‘range’ (‘…could consist of a range simple…’).
Surely an entry worthy of winning such a great prize would have been proofread? I’m guessing Tinning’s background is as an AD, and (hopefully) not as a writer. I know it’s the IDEA that won them the prize, but surely people at this level should not be making such basic errors. And you wonder why people say there are no good, young writers around (although that’s probably shouted loudest by the OLD writers around) – this is the example they’re being set.
Yes, I am jealous of their wonderful prize, but these types of glaring errors really gets up my nostrils. C’mon people, pick up your act a bit.
Have fun in Cannes you bastards!
Perhaps they should have called it BROWN Unltd.
It’s a way better idea than retouching out the lights.
Nice idea, and congratulations on the win. I’ve no doubt this entry was finished late at night amidst other pressing deadlines, but my Year 10 English teacher would have hauled me over the coals for the poor syntax and lack of punctuation in the copy.
And yes, I am a jealous junior.
3.36. But did any that stop you getting the idea?
No.
Maybe if you dickhead writers were a little more concerned with coming up with great ideas instead of fine tooth combing for punctuation and syntax errors you might be in the same position as these guys.
Fucking well done the both of you.
3.36, I quite agree about the mistakes. But on SKY news the other day I saw a caption about ‘New Zeland’ and have seen erroneous apostrophes in national newspapers, so it’s not just advertisers who are setting a bad example.
On a more positive note, the idea is simple and big. Enjoy Cannes!
Well done Andrew, i wish you’d move to Sydney. I’ve been an admirer of your work for a long time. I really want to work for you but i can’t ‘do’ Perth.
Would have love to see you guys around in Da Vinci’s day… ‘Yes… not quite a masterpiece. Sorry. Just not up to scratch. And if you’re going to carve marrrrrrrrble for God’s sake boy wear some gloves. Oh dear.’
Or Galileo’s ‘The Earth revolves around the sun? Sounds like a first thought to me.’
Or Jesus’s day ‘What’s that he rose from the dead? Scam. I never saw it. Frightful state the messiah business is in these days…’
Or today: Aussie team beats 670 other global entries ‘Oh yes, yes that’s marrrrrvelous but can you please get your punctuation right it makes it hard for me to read otherwise… Oh dear… Dear do you have my inhaler? I’m feeling a little faint.’
3:36 & 4:37, you beat us to the punch.
Nice idea, but.
THE APOSTROPHE & GRAMMAR POLICE
Hey 5:19,
From where I stand, the majority of great concepts are the product of a copywriter’s thinking. You see, copywriters usually have an extra week or so to work on the brief as their art directors are fussing about on a old jobs in the studio, flicking through a pantone book no doubt.
3:36 here. You can belittle my comments and say that my points are irrelevant all you like, but when it comes down to it, these so-called geniuses have made some really basic errors that people in their positions should NEVER be making.
Of course, they’re not the only ones, but is it not part of the pre-submission process to have someone – anyone – do a quick read through? It’s a totally separate point from the great idea they’ve developed, but it’s still very, very important.
It may not be a big deal to many of you (art directors) out there, but to some people (copywriters and those who know how to write), when viewing a piece of work that contains errors that stand out like dog’s balls, it can actually detract from the effectiveness of the message (no matter how brilliant) and create a sense of unprofessionalism and thought that the organisation that created the message lacks attention to detail.
And nobody likes that.
Well done Gabs!! Can’t believe the prize! You’ll have a ball. Amazing!
Loundsie x
Fuck the Young Lions. This was the comp to win & you don’t have to be under 30 to win it.
I’m on board this one next year.
Well done.
Hang on – billions of employees flying to one big picnic – carbon footprints anyone?
No, but seriously = cool idea.
In some agencies, it’s okay not to give a shit about grammar 🙂
The rest of us have to though.
This shouldn’t be a major surprise. The ad industry doesn’t give a fuck about copy. I mean how many agencies in Sydney for instance have a head of copy?
People in the industry who care greatly about copy are a rarity. If you care about copy you will invariably be written-off (no pun intended) by wankers like 5:19pm as some git in a bow-tie who likes having over-intellectualised debates about the ethos and the place of semi-colons.
If you put love into copy, you won’t win friends with the cool kids in advertising. You will however be able to take pride in the fact you’re doing your job properly.
Annoyingly, the few people in the industry who do take copy seriously are often those feckless cocksucking private school suits who mistakenly thinks they can write.
Hope this doesn’t upset you 5:19pm and distract you from another of your maaaaaaaaaaaaaaarvellous viiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisual ideas.
I reckon the blog should have a comments section where you can ‘art direct’ a response. Think MS paint, but with more buttons. Bring it.
This whole thing is pathetic.
I am sick and tired of our industry pretending we have something worthwhile to say on the environment. We don’t. As an industry, we have done more to promote the mindless plundering of our planet than just about anyone else.
We are the ones who have spent decades convincing people they need new cars, new clothes, new furniture, bigger TVs etc. etc.
Let’s give up on these useless conscience-cleaninsing exercises and accept that we are a corrupt, destructive enterprise that has played a massive role in the process of environmental destruction.
I don’t know what the answer is. I’m as complicit as anyone else, but I am not going to try and delude myself and others that I am at the vanguard of saving the planet. I’m not. Especially when I m about to start working on a new high-powered SUV.
Let’s let the spelling mistakes slide. How many art directors can actually draw these days!!!!!!!! Great idea and as an aussie it brings me sheer pleasure to watch other aussie’s win. ON YA.
How to get a free trip to Cannes?
Tell people to Swim between the flags and turn off a light switch.
I love advertising!
New Zealander, actually. Christchurch I believe.
Andrew should use this trip to Cannes to set up a well-deserved move over east – or north to Singapore. His talent ambition and application are worthy of a much bigger stage than Perth. No disrespect to guys over there, but he is seriously wasted at somewhere like Marketforce.
So you write an idea to save the environment and then you fly to cannes.
there seems to be a logic issue.
You make pdf in a portrait A4 format (perfect for printing, rather than being read on screen) and then you fly in a big jet pumping out carbon to a place in france that didn’t really need to visit.
And you are doing all of this in the name of the environment.
Oh, well, I guess that is why our industry sucks.
Hey 9.06. He’s a Kiwi! But we’ll claim him as ours anyway. On ya Tinno!
Hey 5.48. You wouldn’t want to work for him, he’s a wanker. Well done Andrew and Gab, fantastic Job. You beat some of the best because you are some of the best.
This comp was obviously all about the idea. Check out the Getty Ultimate brief site like I did and you’ll see the video that won these guys the prize-the pdf appears to have been a working piece and all of the real effort has gone into the video presentation. Not a comma or fullstop out of place on that one.
Great thought
Congratulations. Enjoy your success!
I’m with you 8:51pm…we’re in FUCKIN ADVERTISING!! Get off your high horses, and bend over….cos Karma’s got a freakin’ hard on.
Christchurch. The greatest city in Australia.
Freakin brilliant. I got a little goose bumpy. Well done guys.
Shut up syntax geeks.
I like it.
Hope you guys do your best to make it happen for real.
I agree with 8:51 and 1:21. An exercise in justifying insecurity and covering up the fact that we all lie for a living. Now I’m off to lie to mothers to get them to buy cereal loaded with sugar.
Me grammar got bitten by a hyphen. She’s still in a comma.
2G
Hey dude who thinks he’s the world’s greatest freaken writer (CopyCat, 6:35pm etc).
“It may not be a big deal to many of you (art directors) out there, but to some people (copywriters and those who know how to write), when viewing a piece of work that contains errors that stand out like dog’s balls, it can actually detract from the effectiveness of the message (no matter how brilliant) and create a sense of unprofessionalism and thought that the organisation that created the message lacks attention to detail.”
That’s a mighty long and awkward sentence, Dickwad.
Did I spell Dickwad correctly? I hope so because I don’t want you to misinterpret my meaning. That you are a Dickwad. Hope Copy School was helpful for you this year.
Get a fucking life all of you. If these guys had spent time writing shite on the blog they wouldn’t have had time to come up with a brilliant idea and excellent execution. Talking of which . . .
Now, now 11:05. I really think that’s a bit of an over-reaction. I’m making a statement about the state of the industry in which we work in the hope that people will recognise the problems that I’m highlighting. I never professed to being ‘the world’s greatest freaken writer’ (you’ve kindly done that for me), just a slightly disappointed and concerned one.
It’s beyond you, obviously. In fact, I don’t know why I bothered responding to your waste of a post. Couldn’t help myself I guess.
Now go back to your mock-ups.
if the spelling is the only thing you find wrong with it, it’s very good.
Love the idea but agree with the comments on the typos. I have sat on a pitch panels where great ideas from major agencies were dismissed because of appalling spelling and grammar. It is very important – it reflects on how you conduct your business and, worse of all, undermines the work.
GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKS!!!!!
Nice work guys. Love it. For the people that have decided our industry is so evil they need to give up and never try to do anything good, please move on. Some in our industry are good people. We encourage our clients to be more responsible with their products and messages and we encourage our staff to do the same. We do good work that makes people laugh and we enjoy it.
The answer to sustainability is not to go into a corner and never buy or sell another product. It’s to start a consumer movement that shifts the demand for damaging products to ones that are good for the earth. You might have noticed this dramatic shift in just about every product category over the past two years if you weren’t too busy drowning your sorrows on this blog.
I hope your campaign goes global guys. Very nice indeed.
Whoops, I made a boo-boo that seems to have upset a few writters out there in blog land. In the heat of running a crazy busy department, producing a new brand and product campaign for our largest client and moving house, it appears that I mistakenly sent Lynchy a draft version of the Green Unltd PDF that was sitting on my desk top. Oh well, shit happens. The final pitch was a video anyway. Check it out, hopefully you’ll find it less offensive.
Anyway, i’ve got to go and put a poster up on the notice board and take a pic of it for entry into AWARD, anyone got any spare syntax?
AT.
It’s good to know when the magic ‘mountains out of molehills’ police on this blog run out of puff, they can get a job proofreading other people’s comments.
June 4, 2008 6:35 PM. I hate to say it, but a good writer should always
‘Simplify, simplify, simplify.’
I don’t give a shit how many full stops you can miss with comma’s and parenthesis’, bashing out pointless waffle down doesn’t mean you can write long copy.
Which brings me to another point. It’s advertising and we are meant to break rules. Look at some of these lines (obviously written by illiterate Art Directors):
Imposible is nothing (Impossible isn’t anything)
Think different (ly)
Not happy Jan (I’m not happy, Jan)
Coke is it (Coke is the one, It is Coke, Coke is ‘it’)
Drivers wanted (We require drivers)
Have it your way (Have your burger the way you want it)
Finger lickin’ good (So good you’ll want to lick your fingers)
Wazzzaaaaaaaaaaaap (How are you, What’s going on)
Language changes, our job is to simply make sure people understand what we’re on about, unless we’re advertising Tooheys Extra Dry.
great news to see locals win, but i honestly dont get it. what do you want me to do? turn a light off? stop wasting water? what? how am i a part of this? congrats on winning, but what a load of fucking crap. am i a part of a company? what do you want me to do and how do you know if i’ve done it? have a great time in cannes, but i just don’t get it. i hope this idea comes to life, but i honestly don’t even know what the idea is. I’m turning my computer off now… but how do you know if i’ve done it? what a load of crap. please tell me i’m crazy. i’d love to see if there were some actual ideas in the competition. im so sorry for all those that had an actual idea.
Its all cheap tokenism. Just another sign up cop-out. Just sign up and phew I’ve done my bit for global warming. Just sign up to Kyoto, wear a red ribbon, wear a pink ribbon, wear a daffodil – do anything BUT something that really does make a difference. So here’s a challenge to the winners – I’ve read your talk – now lets see you walk the walk – don’t go to Cannes.
10.27 if you can’t understand the fundamentals of this idea and the potential it has for further development if it ever did get up, then you shouldn’t be in this business. Maybe you should move to W.A and join Tinning and co. forget about advertising though, I hear they pay great money to drive trucks up in the mines.
What’s a ‘writter’ AT, or was that intentional too?
12.53- ‘Writter’ was an intentional joke.
I reckon the business card and cap are the best bits.
A couple of billion of those should sort things out ( could get nike to do the caps)
The global picnic’s not a bad idea either, get Macca’s and coke to do the food and drink. ( could squeeze them on the cap somewhere too)
And if we do end up with the world’s biggest garbage heap, we could reclycle that and make more biz cards and caps.
Then fly 5000 ad guys from around the globe to Cannes to say well done.
Altruism in advertising is alive and well, even if the planet isn’t.
Geez, we’re good.
All they’re doing is trying to empower us ‘people’ to be part of an organization that can take on the corporations we hate. So…who cares if there is no tangible link to my new job? As long as I feel other people are trying to band together and do something, then I should want to join. That’s it people. It’s a good, peace loving, environment loving idea.
Stop shitting on the good stuff. Yes, they are flying to Cannes. Maybe all the losers should compensate by shutting off their TVs and walking to work for the entire week of Cannes.
What’s this ‘taking on corporations we hate’ crap.
Every one of them has a marketing department and that’s who we work for!
Sure, everyone can do their bit, but a lot of what we do is tokenism and motivated by awards, ego and recognition – just take a look at Gruen to see what motivates most of us. It’s got bugger all to do with winners and losers.
Page 13 todays Australian. Bottom right comments under The Trouble With Picking Winners Is When You Don’t. More of the feel good, cost nothing, achieve little symbolism so evident in Green Unlimited.
[1:08 If ‘corporations’ concern you so much then put your money where your mouth is; resign from the corporation you work for before you have to do yet another campaign for yet another corporation you despise].
3:14…I should have said ‘certain corporations’. I’m not a corporation hater but some are actually quite evil, even some agencies. Some have consciences and some don’t.
This isn’t a ‘down with capitalism’ message. It’s just asking people to all do some small actions that could add up to something that might counteract all the bad actions big companies make. Even if only a few million people listened to a message like this instead of 6 billion would it not still be worthwhile? We’re at the tipping point on the green issue. It’s annoying everyone because it’s everywhere…as it should be. Easiest way to make it go away? Get off your arse, spread the word and ride a bike to work.