The NYF Advertising Awards, known for celebrating the world's most innovative and impactful advertising, says that it is taking a hard stance against the industry's reliance on inflated metrics, fabricated buzz and empty results. In this provocative campaign, these industry conventions are reimagined as something more tangible and valuable: fertiliser for growth.
Thiago Cruz, Chief Creative Officer at Grey New York, says, "New York is famously known for not putting up with BS, so we're ensuring our festival stands for that too. We're looking for work that truly drives both cultural and business value for clients."
According to the awards, the campaign humorously relabels case studies' so-called "BS" with sharp accuracy, exposing the elements that undermine true creativity:
- made-up Tweets
- inflated number of impressions, and
- lots and lots of positive sentiment.
To launch the campaign, Grey New York created a mockumentary-style film, titled 100 % Bull***. It portrays real farmers talking directly to the camera about the free bags of manure they received. Each bag is humorously labelled with award show case study jargon like "Made-up Tweets," creating moments of genuine confusion and comedy as the farmers, unfamiliar with the advertising world, discuss the potential benefits of the unconventional fertilizer for their crops, says the awards.
The NYF Advertising Awards says that in addition to the video, the new campaign consists of social content and print. And at the end of the festival’s judging process, Grey NY and the New York Festivals will be donating fertiliser to the NYC Parks, in hopes that the industry's fabricated results can be transformed into something real and productive.
"New York Festivals has always been about celebrating creativity that pushes boundaries and drives progress," says Scott Rose, President at New York Festivals. "This campaign is a reminder that our jury wants to rise above the noise of awards gamification and honour the true achievement: the courage, creativity and dedication it takes to bring powerful ideas to life, inspire action and shape the future of our industry."
The 2025 NYF Advertising Awards are now open for entries. Creatives, agencies and brands worldwide are invited to submit their work and join the movement to redefine what award-winning advertising can be.
The NYF Advertising Awards competition receives entries from more than 60 countries and is judged by more than 400 members of NYF's Executive Jury and Shortlist Jury, who collectively cast their votes to select the year's trophy-winning work.
The New York Festivals concludes that the official deadline to enter the 2025 New York Festivals Advertising Awards is Friday, 25 April.
For more information, visit www.newyorkfestivals.com. You can also follow the NYF on Facebook, X, or on Instagram.
*Image courtesy of contributor