2020 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

Buckley’s is known as the terrible-tasting cough syrup... that works. To mark one hundred years of its glorious face-contorting magic, Saatchi & Saatchi made the brand’s unique positioning the centre of a centennial anniversary campaign. The agency worked with 101 different actors (across three weeks of shooting), capturing their “awful taste face” as they took a spoonful of Buckley’s. Set against important moments in Canadian history, from the baby boom of 1946 to the introduction of the metric system in 1971 and the hosting of the Winter Olympics of 1988, each photograph featured period-specific wardrobe, makeup and backgrounds. The campaign was executed as takeovers of entire subway trains in Toronto, creating train-length timelines that allowed commuters to experience a century of Buckley’s on their way to work.

Credits

Executive Creative Director: Brian Sheppard
Group Creative Director/Writer: Rob Gendron
Associate Creative Director/Art Director: Craig Brandon
Agency Production: Carlene Allen, Bill Ing
Photography: Dave Todon, Instil Productions
Photo Retouching: Mike Halbwachs
Producer, Instil: Pamela Post