For the second consecutive year, students from BYU’s AdLab have won best in show at the American Advertising Awards — also known as the ADDYs.
Their winning ad, a spec commercial for General Electric, shows a young girl’s journey from space-exploration aficionado to grown-up real-life astronaut (in line, said AdLab faculty advisor Jeff Sheets, with GE’s stated commitment to increase females in STEM-related fields by 2020).
Advertising student Jason Murray, who worked on the creative team and helped produce and edit the commercial, said the group’s goal was to tell an authentic story with an inspiring and inclusive message. The challenge? Creating professional ad-agency production value on a student-run timeline and budget.
But, Sheets said, “the spot itself is so well crafted. … Its production value and beauty is as professional and high quality as anything you would see from the world’s best agencies and production companies.”
The ADDYs are the country’s largest advertising competition, receiving more than 35,000 entries in 2018.
