Advertising and media industry publication B&T has reported that next year’s TV Week Logie Awards could include a category for viewers to vote for their favourite commercial.
Rob Belgiovane, executive creative director at ad agency BWM and a regular contributor on advertising matters on Nine’s Today, has raised the idea of a Logie for commercials to David Gyngell, CEO of the Nine Network which is the broadcast partner of the Logies:
“He thinks it’s a great idea. I’ve had a call about it from someone else in the industry as well.”
“The ad industry is at risk of disappearing up its own arse by having a bunch of people from St Kilda Road or Bondi deciding which ads are the best or not. There is room for an industry vote and a vote by the general public. Aside from surveys carried out by newspapers or current affairs shows, there is no mass forum for people to have their say on television advertising.”
The business of advertising has had the TV spotlight on it in recent times. ABC has produced two series of The Gruen Transfer, which analyses some of the methods and styles used in advertising and has scored a Gold Logie nomination for host Wil Anderson. And Andrew Denton’s company, Zapruder’s Other Films, has produced a comedy series for Foxtel, :30 Seconds, based around an advertising agency.
It won’t be the first time that commercials have been eligible to win Logie awards. During the 1960s and ‘70s the TV Week Logie Awards had a category for best commercial. These were often won by either cigarette companies or by Coca Cola, both of which obviously had the budgets to spend on lavish commercials. (Cigarette advertising was allowed on Australian television up until September 1976)
The last commercial to be awarded a TV Week Logie was for Export Cola in 1978.
Perhaps this was the ad in question? In which case, no surprises why it got an award…
Source: Australian Television Information Archive, B&T, Tobacco In Australia
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