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New York Festivals Advertising Awards in partnership with The Genius 100 Foundation announced the 2023 Genius 100 Inspiration Award winners. NYF and the Genius 100 Foundation awarded four innovative campaigns that demonstrated purpose-driven work and inspired social impact with New York Festivals Genius 100 Gold Awards.
The 2023 New York Festivals Genius 100 Awards are as follows:
Genius 100 Inspiration Award – “Kami” Forsman & Bodenfors Singapore for Down Syndrome International
“We are absolutely thrilled to receive The Genius 100 Inspiration Award. Kami may be the first virtual influencer with a disability, but we don't want her to be the last. We hope that the inclusive model with which we built Kami inspires more people in the digital community to create a virtual world that has diversity at its core, and not as an afterthought.
Kami is proof that we can all show up authentically in the virtual world. Disabilities like Down Syndrome are a part of the human condition that should never be erased. Kami is an agent of change, a revolutionary, and we are so happy that her legacy and impact are being recognized with this award,” commented Rachel Kennedy, Group Creative Director, Forsman & Bodenfors Singapore.
Genius 100 Limitless Award – “Anne De Gaulle” Havas Paris, Foundation Anne de Gaulle
“Winning the New York Festivals Genius 100 Limitless Award is an amazing reward. I am so proud of my team, my agency and of course for the Anne de Gaulle Foundation. The campaign has been a tremendous success for the foundation in France. Even if it was not so easy to change the name of the largest airport in Europe.
It was crazy but Havas Paris did it. I often say to my clients: Awards are amazing. But it is only a huge cherry on the cake. The cake is a successful campaign.
But to be honest, to win a NYF Genius 100.... what a cherry!!! Thank you, New York Festivals, Thank you to the jury,” noted Stéphane Gaubert, Chief Creative Officer, Havas Paris.
Genius 100 Product of the Year – “FitChix” VMLY&R Melbourne for Honest Eggs Company
“The humble egg was first laid some 312 million years ago. But now we’ve finally improved it with FitChix - a feather camouflaged, lightweight fitness tracker featuring GPS and bespoke software. By bringing data from the farm to the supermarket shelf we’ve helped people make more ethical food choices. This has been a real breakthrough moment for our client Honest Eggs Co. and we both couldn’t be happier to be recognised as the Genius 100 Product of the Year,” stated Kieran Moroney, Creative Director, VMLY&R Melbourne.
Genius 100 Idea of the Year – “Wall Street Balls” FP7McCann Dubai for Testicular Cancer Society
The goal of “Wall Street Balls” was to create awareness about testicular cancer. In an effort to break the stigma of early detection and self-checks, the Testicular Cancer Society had to get clever. Their research led them to a very interesting discovery that while most men’s balls go unchecked, thousands of people check out the Wall Street Bull’s balls every day, making them, “The most checked balls on earth.”
“I’m extremely thrilled and honored for this recognition. To be awarded as the 100 genius ideas is a priceless privilege and a great validation of the love, the dedication, and the patience of the team behind the work.
I couldn’t be more grateful to my wonderful FP7MCCAN Dubai team and to our supportive client and friend Mike Craycraft from the TesticularCancerSociety. Without the relentless passion of this army of wonderful people, I wouldn’t be here today celebrating this achievement,” said Federico Fanti, Chief Creative Officer MENAT, FP7 McCann Dubai.
Federico and his team at FP7 used the Wall Street Bull’s “most checked balls on earth” to raise awareness for testicular cancer by turning social media comments into lifesaving reminders and reaching more people than ever in a light-hearted way.
Within a month the campaign reached over 2 million people across 21 countries, resulting in 6 million impressions on social media. The campaign was further amplified by Major League Baseball player and testicular cancer survivor Connor Joe and appeared on national TV news and radio stations in the US and numerous news and online publications.
"This message uncovers and addresses a very important health issue for men all over the world,” states Rami Kleinmann, Co-Founder, Genius 100 Foundation. "And it’s so very clever – taking something so iconic and recognizable and leveraging it to spotlight this issue. We salute the team at FP7 McCann for their ingenious work and for creating tremendous impact.”
The 2023 Genius Awards included entries from 17 countries and over 150 pieces of creative work. This is the only category within the New York Festivals Advertising Awards that accepts work from NGOs.
The awards were judged by a panel of Genius 100 Visionaries, comprised of an extraordinary group of 100 globally recognized, accomplished, compassionate minds from an impressive cross-section of fields, including: Jose Miguel Sokoloff, Chris Bertish, Amal Elsana Alh’jooj, Ron Arad, Maggie MacDonnell, Rick Hanson, and Eduardo Marturet, as well as the Genius 100 executive team of Rami Kleinmann (Co-Founder), Helen Hatzis (CCO), and Hilarie Viener (CEO). The 2023 Genius Jury panel members are responsible for judging all work entered into the Genius 100 categories. Their thoughtful deliberations result in honoring innovative campaigns that showcase purpose-driven work and inspire social impact.
“We were absolutely awed by the incredible, inspiring work that was submitted for the 2023 Genius Awards. It was a global display of poignant, powerful, impactful, and critically important messages that need to be heard,” stated Hilarie Viener, CEO, Genius 100 Foundation. “It is such an honor to partner with the New York Festivals Advertising Awards.”
“The award-winning entries selected by the Genius 100 Jury are the epitome of purpose-driven creative work that is both inspirational and impactful. We are honored to celebrate along with our partner, the Genius 100 Foundation, cutting-edge creative work employing impactful big ideas that have the potential to changes lives,” said Scott Rose, President of New York Festivals Advertising Awards.
For 2023, the Genius Inspiration Award expanded to include three additional awards for 2023: Genius 100 Product of the Year Award, Genius 100 Idea of the Year Award, and Genius 100 Limitless Award.
Proceeds from entry fees into the Genius 100 Limitless Award will be donated to Luv Michael, (a NYC-based 501c3 non-profit dedicated to training, educating, and employing autistic adults and improving the lives of the autistic community beyond the lives of their parents). Proceeds from the entry fees for the Genius 100 Inspiration, Idea of the Year and Product of the Year Awards will be donated to the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (501c3).
