LIA Likely, Lock + Long Shot: Paul Chan
Paul Chan is joining the Ambient, Print, Poster + Billboard jury at this year’s London International Awards. The judging takes place every year in the gambling world of Las Vegas and, in the lead up to this October gathering, Campaign Brief has asked many of the LIA jurors to throw the dice and highlight some of the work from the APAC region that they would put money on to win.
Likely is probably in the show, Lock is a LIA Statue winner for sure, and Long Shot is a maybe/maybe not but something they like or is a bit different.
LIA Likely:
In this clever hijack campaign, Uber Eats fooled the tennis-watching public into watching their ads. After each ad break, when people believed they were returning to the match, they were instead seamlessly presented with an Uber Eats food order delivered in a way that was identical to the tennis. It’s disruption advertising at its best. It’s surprising, entertaining and – Rafa Nadal’s wooden acting aside – is totally believable. For all the effort it must have taken to actually pull this off, it deserves to be in the mix.
LIA Lock:
Multiple Cannes Grand Prix-winning campaigns like ‘Whopper Detour’, ‘Dream Crazy’ and ‘The Truth Is Worth It’ are going to be red-hot favourites at LIA this year. But if you’re a betting fan, the odds are higher when you look beyond the heavy favourites and pick the talented outsiders. So as a less obvious bet, I’m backing Face/Off for K PLUS. Following up on a smash hit is never easy. So kudos to the team for delivering another weird and wonderful spot for the Thai mobile banking app. It’s a fantastic follow-up to their globally-acclaimed Friendshit commercial. And this time around, they’ve taken the deadpan acting, oddball casting and awkwardness to an even weirder place. And it works. It’s clever, leftfield and hugely entertaining. Although it doesn’t quite hit the same dizzy heights as last year’s winner, it’s a worthy follow-up. And surely a lock for metal.
LIA Long Shot:
How’s this for leftfield thinking? A restaurant that specialises in getting your order wrong – for a good cause. The Restaurant of Mistaken Orders is a unique concept where all the waiting staff have dementia. So there’s a possibility that what you get served is not what you actually ordered. But that’s okay. By putting customers in a frame of mind where a mistaken order can be accepted, or even appreciated, the restaurant provides a valuable lesson on being open-minded. It’s a wonderful way of raising awareness and shows that people with dementia can be productive members of society. Even the beautifully-designed logo will bring a smile to your day. It’s one of those ideas that might go under the radar, but I hope it doesn’t get overlooked.
Paul Chan is Chief Creative Officer at Cheil Worldwide Hong Kong.