By Lian Bunny
News Editor
“Then the creative rebels take over and storm the castle with pitchforks and start making crazy advertising. I hope we’ll go back to an age in which excellence is the standard, not safety.”
According to Michael Jones-Kelley, adviser for St. Bonaventure’s American Advertising Federation (AAF), the three Bonaventure students who received American Advertising Awards (ADDYs) started the rebellion.
“Our students’ projects were very sound strategically,” Jones-Kelley said. “But the thing about a good strategy is that it opens the door to brilliant creativity, unless you choose to use the strategy to close the door. What our students did was develop a very sound strategy and then let their imaginations run wild.”
This year, Tylandt A. Doyle, an Integrated Marketing Communications graduate student, received a Gold ADDY. Emma Zaremba, a senior strategic communication and digital media major, and Kerri Linsenbigler, an Integrated Marketing Communications graduate student, won Silver ADDYs.
ADDYs recognize and reward the creative spirit of excellence in advertising. At the local level, students can win Silver ADDYs for outstanding work or Gold ADDYs for the superiority to all other entries. Gold ADDY recipients at the local level move on to a regional competition. Winners at the regional level then move on to the national competition.
Local advertising clubs bring advertising professionals from other parts of the country to judge the contest. There are awards for both professionals and students.
Jones-Kelley and Pauline Hoffmann, dean of The Russell J. Jandoli School of Journalism and Mass Communication, selected the projects to send to The Advertising Club of Buffalo.
Doyle received a Gold ADDY for his newspaper advertisement for changing the Lancaster Redskins mascot. His work titled “Change the Mascot” will move on to the regional competition.
“I came up with the idea just thinking about the Native American mascot issue in a way that I thought related to me,” Doyle said. “We are all humans, and I feel like all racial issues are human rights issues. So I thought it made sense to relate the Native American mascot issue to the Civil Rights movement.”
Jones-Kelley said Doyle’s project deserved to win a Gold ADDY.
“It was succinct, powerful, excellent,” Jones-Kelley said. “It was brilliantly ‘concepted’ and perfectly written.”
Emma Zaremba won a Silver ADDY for her campaign titled “Moral Imperative,” which displayed statistics on gun violence in the United States.
According to Jones-Kelley, Zaremba’s large black and white posters were splatted with red paint at random to look like spots of blood.
“The effect was chilling, very dramatic, very powerful,” Jones-Kelley said.
Zaremba said her posters intended to promote gun responsibility.
“I chose to speak out for gun responsibility, because I felt I had more knowledge in this area to create a campaign I was passionate about,” Zaremba said.
Kerri Linsenbigler won a Silver ADDY for her consumer publication titled “Resurgence.”
According to Jones-Kelley, Linsenbigler’s ad campaign for the Resurgence Brewing Company in Buffalo included the tagline: Official beer of the new Buffalo. Each ad featured a picture of a glass of beer set against a white background. An image of a few developments in Buffalo, such as the grain silo converted into a rock climbing wall, is ghosted inside each glass, said Jones-Kelley.
“I chose Resurgence and the images used in my ads, because I love what’s been going on in Buffalo lately,” Linsenbigler said. “As a Buffalo native, it’s been awesome to see my hometown make a comeback and experience the hopefulness and redevelopment firsthand.”
Last year was the first year St. Bonaventure students won ADDY awards, said Jones-Kelley. Two students won last year, and three won this year.
According to Jones-Kelley, this shows Bonaventure students’ increased interest in advertising.
“Our students are doing well,” Jones-Kelley said. “I think it says how much our students like advertising and how much they enjoy it.”
Because of this interest, Jones-Kelley said the journalism school will offer more advertising classes in the future. An introduction to design class will begin in the fall. Hoffmann also asked for a proposal to make the AAF class a two-semester class rather than a one-semester class.
“I’m so proud of my fellow Bonnies for also winning an ADDY,” Linsenbigler said. “It’s amazing that three people won this year, especially considering our limited advertising courses and lack of graphic design classes. Advertising is a field many students are interested in, and I think the students and the school would only benefit from more class options in this field.”
