Two Chicago agencies win ANA Multicultural Awards

The work of two Chicago agencies won the 16th ANA (Association of National Advertisers) Multicultural Excellence Awards, out of 33 nominees, at ceremonies Sunday in Los Angeles, climaxing the three day ANA oulticultural & Diversity conference.

McDonald’s and LimeGreen Moroch won the Grand Prize for two 30-second spots, “Slang” and “All Nighter,” and McDonald’s and IW Group of Hollywood won the Asian prize for the spot “Did you Eat Yet?”

The print prize went to Comcast Xfinity and Burrell Communications for two “Black History Month-The Next Greatest of All Time” ads.

In LA to accept their respective awards were LimeGreen Moroch founder/CEO Michon Ellis and Burrell Communications’ VP/CD Terrence Burrell (no relation to agency founder Tom Burrell).

The winners: CEO Michon Ellis, Lime Green Moroch; Sharmila Fowler, McDonald’s marketing director and Lura Hobbs, president, Lime Green Moroch

In the McDonald’s “Slang” spot, an African-American father embarrasses his teenage daughter by trying to be too cool, trying on hip hop-inspired clothes in a department store and incorrectly using slang phrases. But they finally connect over burgers at McDonald’s. (Sorry, no videos are available.)

“We’ve only wanted to produce the ideas that speak to the heart of the culture,” says Lime Green Moroch senior copywriter, Candyce Vanterpool. “And it helps that the McDonald’s team has always been aligned with us on that.”

“Slang’s” team also included ECD Kevin Sutton; CDs David Soames and Dustin Taylor, copywriter Brian Collins and art director Elijah Farmer.

Burrell’s winning Comcast Xfinity entry, “The Next Greatest of All Time,” features director Spike Lee and “The View” host Whoopee Goldberg in print ads.

Senior art director Rachael Kusper was part of the Burrell creative team.

“Generally speaking, we saw an increased intensity and focus on appropriately reaching the multicultural segment,” says Tito Colon, an ANA Awards judge and Aetna’s senior director / multicultural marketing, community relations and urban marketing.

“The campaigns encapsulated nuances that only could be developed through in-depth research and adoption into the creative process. I think it’s the next evolution of the multicultural market, and how it can be adopted in a total market segment and become a vehicle for growth for these companies.”

Best of Show went to Duracell batteries spot by Anomaly that won the People with Disabilities category. Other winners were Coca-Cola, Kleenex, Nescafe Clasico, Toyota, Univision, USDA and the Food and Drug Administration.

Colin Costello’s screenwriting credits include the Emmy-nominated “Moochie Kalala Detective’s Club” and the 2017 family film, “Traveling Without Moving.” He can be reached at colin@colincostello.com.