The 30 best ads from Campaign Brief’s 30 years. 1988: Aboriginal Anti Celebration Authority

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.

Our choices have been pretty clear cut up to now but here is our first big dilemma. 1988 saw a few great print ads created, including two from JMAO&M:  ‘Ump the Queue.J’ for Hooker Land by Mike Edmonds & Dale Simmonds, and ‘Darkie, Coon, Nigger, Abo, Boong’ for the Aboriginal Anti Celebration Authority by Adam Barker & Lori Canalini.

The former won a national Caxton; the latter got In Book at D&AD. Okay – it was done for a Campaign Brief creative exercise, whereas ‘Ump the Queue.J’ was done to a real brief for a paying client, but this is Campaign Brief’s 30th so it gets the nod…by a whisker.

1988 was Australia’s bicentenary and there was a great deal of back-slapping going on but it also brought the treatment of indigenous Australians both historically and currently into sharp focus. The brief for our creative exercise was for an ad to explain why they weren’t inclined to join the celebration.

A number of agencies responded to the challenge but this was the stand-out entry. Those confronting words, rippingly art directed by Canalini, have just as much impact and ability to shock today as they did twenty-six years ago. Rarely has a press ad had that kind of power.

It heralded the emergence of Barker & Canalini as one of Perth’s most formidable creative teams.

Sadly, as recent cases in the AFL have highlighted, racial abuse still persists so it’s a timely reminder of just how hurtful and disrespectful those words are.

The market context for ‘Ump The Queue. J’ was a severe shortage of land. People would camp out ahead of a new release, which would then sell out within hours. The witty little small-spacer captured the target audience’s wish perfectly.

The account exec on Hooker Land, the wonderful Lyn Minihan, ‘sold’ the ad to the client as being an award-winner. He said if it won an award he’d take the team to lunch. Happy days!

An honourable mention also to an ad for WA Trustees by McCann’s Peter Nelson & Jules Sher with the lovely headline “If you’re responsible for someone’s death, you may need professional help.” (It was about being executor of a Will.) It too won a Caxton in ’88.