Beginning on Monday January 11, hundreds of D&AD Pencils disappeared from offices throughout the world. At least 30 agencies were hit – in Melbourne, London, the US, Rio de Janeiro…
Adgods panicked. And Twitter ignited.
But it was just a stunt. A very clever stunt, by the UK agency promoting the D&AD 2016 Awards, Lucky Generals.
Danny Brooke-Taylor, creative founder Lucky Generals, explained, “This experiment was based on the simple truth that, sometimes, we only realise the true value of things when they’ve been taken from us.”
Lucky Generals returned the pencils to their rightful owners four days later, on Thursday, and explained that it was part of a campaign for D&AD to make people appreciate the value of the awards.
Tim Lindsay, D&AD chief executive, noted, “We loved the chutzpah of the Lucky Generals idea. It was a cheeky and good-humoured way of reminding people that, when it comes to awards, nothing matters more than a D&AD Pencil. Thanks to everyone who took part, wittingly or unwittingly.”
Production company, Gorgeous, received a publicity boost. It got to boast that it had 75 D&AD Pencils stolen.
