BBDO Canada, FCB New York and Apple London Win Big at The One Show

Creative Week ended with a flurry of awards at The One Show 2023 in New York, with Apple London, BBDO Canada and FCB New York bringing in big wins.

Apple had a huge night at the 50th anniversary ceremony of The One Show, picking up Best of Show, Brand of the Year and Brand-Side/In-House Agency of the Year honors.

Apple London, with Apple Cupertino, was awarded Best of Show and Best of Discipline in Brand-Side/In-House for “The Greatest,” a film showcasing the brand’s commitment to accessibility features and technology. Overall, the work received Best of Show, one Best of Discipline, five Gold Pencils and a Silver.

“Apple really crushed it this year with work like ‘The Greatest’ and ‘R.I.P. Leon’ that shows off the brand in an innovative and inspiring way,” Kevin Swanepoel, CEO of The One Club, said in a statement. “We like to say ‘great creative is great for business,’ and Apple’s continued success is proof that they go hand in hand.”

BBDO Canada also had a big night, being named Agency of the Year, winning two Best of Disciplines in Experiential & Immersive and Radio & Audio, and taking home nine Gold Pencils, two Silver, three Bronze and two Merits. All of the wins, working with TA2 Sound+Music Toronto, were for “Missing Matoaka” on behalf of Muskrat Magazine. 

FCB New York came away from the awards with 11 Gold Pencils. Ten of those were for “McEnroe vs McEnroe,” a campaign for AB InBev/Michelob Ultra that had John McEnroe playing against AI versions of himself in tennis.

FCB New York also won a Gold for working with Wave Studios on Spotify Advertising’s “A Song For Every CMO—Mastercard” in Radio & Audio. Overall, the agency received 11 Gold Pencils, seven Silver, five Bronze and 24 Merits.

Here are the top honorees, based upon cumulative scores for Pencils and Merits won across all disciplines:

• Agency of the Year: BBDO Canada Toronto
• Independent Agency of the Year: Wieden+Kennedy Portland
• Brand-Side/In-House Agency of the Year: Apple Cupertino
• Network of the Year: Ogilvy
• Independent Network of the Year: Wieden+Kennedy
• Creative Holding Company of the Year: Omnicom
• Production Company of the Year: Smuggler New York/Los Angeles
• Music & Sound Company of the Year: TA2 Sound+Music Toronto
• Client of the Year: AB InBev
• Nonprofit Client of the Year: Grupo Estratégico PAE 
• Brand of the Year: Apple

Celebrating 50 years of Pencils

This year’s One Show celebrated the awards ceremony’s 50th anniversary. Top winners in The One Show 2023 received a new One Show Pencil modeled after the original Pencil designed by industry legend George Lois, whose son Luke Lois was on stage for the unveiling. The new Pencil is larger and made of crystal surrounding a gold metal core for Best of Discipline and “of the Year” winners, and a black metal core for Best of Show.  

Special awards

There were two winners of The One Show 2023 Penta Pencil, awarded to the agency and brand who together created outstanding creative work for the last five years: FCB Toronto for work on behalf of the Canadian Down Syndrome Society, and VMLY&R Kansas City with Spark Foundry New York and Ketchum Chicago for their years of work for Wendy’s.

The One Show 2023 Fusion Pencil, the industry’s first global award to recognize great work that best incorporates DEI principles and underrepresented groups in both the creative content of the work and the team that made it, was awarded to Edelman New York with Mindshare New York for Vaseline’s “See My Skin.”

The One Show 2023 Green Pencil, recognizing the most environmentally conscious creative work for the year, was awarded to Nord DDB Stockholm with Camp David and House Agency’s “Vehicle of Change” for Swedish power company Vattenfall.

The One Show 2023 Sustainable Development Goals Pencil, created in cooperation with the United Nations Office for Partnerships and nonprofit Pvblic Foundation to reward agencies and brands for work that betters the world and contributes to securing a sustainable future for all, went to DDB Mexico with Estudios Machina Bogotá and La Doble Mexico City for “Data Tienda” on behalf of Gahr WeCapital.