AWNY Awards 8th Annual Good, Bad & Ugly Awards Event at Caroline's Comedy Club Hosted by Aisha Tyler

AWNY Awards 8th Annual Good, Bad & Ugly Awards Event at Caroline's Comedy Club Hosted by Aisha Tyler

'Bad' Ads Submitted to Generate Publicity for Small Beer Brand

NEW YORK, April 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Advertising Women of New York's (AWNY) 8th Annual Good, Bad & Ugly (GBU) Awards bestowed honors and dishonors to the best and worst advertising directed towards women at its award show last night at Caroline's Comedy Club in NYC.

The winning ads of the evening showcased a wide variety of real women and honest dialog, with the "They Get It Award," going to Dove and its agency Ogilvy & Mather for its integrated "Campaign for Real Beauty." The losers -- "Bad" and "Ugly," relied on outdated stereotypes for cheap gags. Perennial losers at the GBU continue to be beer marketers who year after year demonstrate that they just don't "get it."

"With the GBU now in its 8th year, I initially thought that all we'd see would be empowering, positive images of women today," explained Sallie Mars, Chairman of this year's GBU and Director of Creative Services at McCann Erickson. "I was surprised at the volume of really bad and ugly advertising we had to select from, which reinforces the importance and role this award show plays in continuing to raise the consciousness of how women are depicted in advertising."

There were two winners in this year's Grand Good TV category, a L'Oreal ad by McCann Erickson featuring singer/actress Beyonce talking honestly and frankly about beauty issues, and Curves, a fitness facility designed specifically for women with advertising by Publicis, Dallas. The Grand Good Print was won by repeat winner MasterCard and its agency McCann Erickson.

The "Grand Ugly" went to Troeg's Beer and its agency The Neiman Group for its "Burp" ad. In addition, Ugly Television awards were also given to Budweiser for its "Ref" spot and Bud Light for the Super Bowl ad "Fantasy," -- both ads created by DDB Chicago. Ugly Print winners included ads featuring celebrities Paris Hilton for Guess and Christina Aguilera for Skechers.

One of the big losers of the evening, advertising for Troeg's Beer -- which won two, a "grand ugly" and a "bad," was submitted by its agency The Neiman Group with the hopes that it would win a bad or ugly, giving them an opportunity for press exposure.

"This event has always looked at advertising with a sense of humor and honesty," said Carol Evans, President of AWNY. "We know many of the beer ads that continue to be losers are directed at men, but nonetheless, they reinforce images and stereotypes that continue to show women in demeaning roles. It's important that marketers understand that using women as props just for a laugh is not acceptable."

In informal research conducted by research company NOP World among the judges after judging the show, ads that worked were those that had a sense of humor, have a "different twist" promote women in a positive light, are honest and have an interesting spin on reality.

Those that the were deemed bad or ugly are those that use cliche, outdated themes that are patronizing, try too hard or are demeaning to women (especially those that use a woman's sexuality to sell to men or even to women)."

Source: Advertising Women of New York

CONTACT: Liz Schroeder of AWNY, +1-212-221-7969

Web site: http://www.awny.org/

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