Going wild with the 2009 Animal Spot Awards

Okay, maybe your TV campaign didn’t win a Lion, but it did feature a lion. If so, you might be kicking yourself to learn that you could’ve won an Animal Spot Award.

Yes, the sixth edition of the Animal Spot International Advertising Festival Awards Ceremony takes place this Thursday, July 9th, at Casa del Cinema (Villa Borghese) in Rome, Italy. For those of you unaware of Animal Spot, it is a worldwide festival that celebrates ads that feature animals and/or are for animal related causes.

If you’re still scratching your head, let’s cut right to the press release, shall we?

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Animal Spot

Animal Spot, launched in 1995 by two ad people, Antonio Menconi and Tonino Risuleo, collects, stores, displays and awards worldwide advertising campaigns ON and WITH animals. This project includes a set of events that unfold throughout the year: 

The ANIMAL SPOT FESTIVAL, that awards the best international commercials featuring animals.

ANIMAL FILMMAKERS Prize. University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Repubblica.it and Legambiente award the best advertisements created by amateurs.

The ANIMAL MUSEUM collection. A huge database filled with thousands of ads on and with animals, systematically collected and updated by Roma Comunicazione Association on the Animal Spot website (www.animalspot.it).

NOTTI BESTIALI review. Hundreds of commercials on display from 13 to 24 July 2009 at the Zoological Museum of Rome.

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Pretty snazzy stuff, and appropriately held in Rome, a city whose founders were raised by a wolf.

Here are the ten spots shortlisted for the Grand Prix:

Aardman Animations “Gassy Cows” for Animal Planet

BBDO New York “Stork” for Monster.com

BBH London “Bird House” for Robinsons

Circus Lima “Pigeon” for BCP

DDB Paris “Balloon” for Tiji TV

A campaign by Jung von Matt Zurich for Migros. Here’s the best spot, “Chicken”

Nice Tie Sir “Veterinarian” for Animal Protection Amsterdam 

Odyssey Communication, Bucharest “Dog” for Reciclatorii

Simon Tofield/Tandem Films, London “Fed Up” for the RSPCA

Young & Rubicam Sao Paulo for Santa Casa