The International ANDY Awards is the first awards show of the season, and as such, it often predicts what campaigns may come out on top in the rest of the awards shows. To prove that point, the Advertising Club of New York strapped a select group of top creatives to a lie detector test to have them truthfully state the importance of the awards and maybe trip them up along the way as well.
The “Lie Detector Film” is the campaign film for the ANDYs and in partnership with R/GA, seven top industry creative leaders submitted to the lie detector test to emphasize the importance of the awards, sweating out their answers while tied to a machine. The film and stunt were done ahead of the March 1 closing date for entry.
In the nearly three-minute film, the creatives are hooked up to a lie detector and asked questions around the ANDYs regarding their agency’s work and the submission process. In the hot seat were: Susan Fowler Credle, global chair, global CCO, FCB; Bianca Guimaraes, partner and ecd, Mischief; Chris Beresford-Hill, NA president and CCO, Oglivy; Tom Murphy, CCO NA, Wunderman Thompson; PJ Pereira; CCO and co-founder, Pereira O’Dell; Jaime Robinson, co-founder and CCO, Joan Creative; and Tiffany Rolfe, global CCO, R/GA.
There were a few softball questions, including: “If you win at the ANDYs, do you expect that work to win at other shows?” and “Ever told a client their idea was good when you didn’t really think so?” Others definitely threw up red flags, like baiting questions, including “You’re Ogilvy’s CCO. Have you actually read any of David Ogilvy’s books?” and “Have you ever tried to schmooze someone judging your work?”
The faces on the creatives as the questions were asked told plenty and elicited a lot of laughter, but all apparently knew what they were getting into, with Beresford-Hill even commenting, “Who would say no to a lie detector?”
The tests were administered at a studio in Brooklyn by certified forensic psychophysiologist Jessica Freda and moderated by R/GA ecd, Chapin Clark.
The film ends with relieved creatives as well as a few truths, especially that 90% of ANDY winners go on to win at other major shows and the promise of “win at the ANDYs and at least one other major, or next year’s entry is on us.”
This year’s awards show tagline extends the theme of the video, “Win early, it pays off.”
“We want the community to appreciate the significance of the ANDY Awards and what it means in the award show landscape,” said Gina Grillo, president and CEO of The Advertising Club of NY + International ANDY Awards in a statement. “Our goal continues to be to recognize excellence in the work and highlight the people doing the best work.”
In November 2022, the Ad Club partnered with R/GA as Rolfe became the global jury chair of the ANDY Awards. In addition, R/GA CEO Bob Greenberg’s Inspiration Series interview was released, which was created and produced by Rick Boyko, former chief creative officer, Ogilvy North America and former director of the VCU Brandcenter in partnership with the Club/ International ANDY Awards.
“Winning at the ANDYs is something all creatives aspire to in their careers,” said Rolfe in a statement. “And this film, amusement and all, is meant to showcase that the ANDYs is where the best ideas are surfaced by the biggest creative leaders in our industry. ANDYs is a predictor for what’s to come in the awards season. And that’s no lie.”
The creatives seemed to have fun with the process, and all were truthful in saying that the ANDY Awards lead to more awards.
“I love the ANDY Awards—one jury looks at everything, and there’s only one level of award, which is gold,” Beresford-Hill told Adweek. “I said this while plugged into the lie detector test, and it was shown to be truthful, but I guess it did not make for good video content, so now I will just say it as a quote”
