The 30 best ads from Campaign Brief’s 30 years. 1997: City of Perth ‘Pablo Picasky’

Campaign Brief WA turns 30 this month, so over the thirty days of June we’re looking back and choosing the best ad done in each of our 30 years.

Two ripper TV commercials and a great radio ad in contention for 1997.

It’s another close call but after 17 years City of Perth ‘Pablo Picasky’ by JDA snaps in the memory.

The City of Perth was hosting an art exhibition in Northbridge shop windows. Shot with a locked-off camera, the TVC showed two council workers supposedly looking at one of the pieces, with the older, ‘educated’ gent trying to sound expert as he critiques it. It included the immortal line: “Bit his ear off in a bout of depressionism.” Still makes us laugh.

‘Pablo Picasky’ was created by the white-hot Matt Cullen & Gary Tranter, and directed by Monster With Two Toes’ Simon Frost (The lead talent was Barrie Barkla! Anyone?).

Cullen & Tranter also wrote one of the best radio ads ever created in Perth for City of Perth. ‘Jesus’ was done for the City’s Christmas Nativity event.

Starting off with a soft, enquiring voice and becoming progressively more frantic, it drew you right in. ‘Theatre of the mind’ at its very best.

It won the national Golden Stylus Award – forerunner of today’s Sirens – for best radio in Australia. But alas, it didn’t go to air on Mix 94.5 so it didn’t win the Radio Writers Award $20k.

‘Jesus’ was produced by radio maestro Marty Braine.

The other memorable TVC from 1997 was ‘Dyke’, created by Adam Barker & Lori Canalini for an exhibition of Dutch Masters at the Art Gallery of WA.  The spot was directed by Martin Wilson, also of Monster With Two Toes.

‘Pablo Picasky’ won Gold and Best of Show at the PADC Awards, but it was the other way around at the Campaign Brief Awards, with ‘Dyke’ taking out Best of Year. And fair enough – it’s a great ad too.

There were also three very fine press campaigns produced that year: The Sunday Times‘ Centenary (Mike Edmonds & Dale Simmonds, 303); Cancer Foundation, (‘Barkalini’, Marketforce) and Chippers (Steve Browning & Wayne Vinten, Vinten Browning). Fabulously written long copy and beautifully sympathetic art direction. Noice!

Looking back, the years around 96/97/98 were something of a ‘golden age’ for Perth, with 4 strong teams – Barker & Canalini, Edmonds & Simmonds, Cullen & Tranter, and Browning & Vinten – producing a stream of great work. This was the toughest year so far to nominate a winner from, and we could have picked any of these ads as ‘best’.