Ad Age & AHAA 2001 Creative Awards Winners.

A daring Bud Light commercial called “Centerfold” by Dieste & Partners won the Best of Show award at the 3rd Annual Advertising Age Hispanic Creative Advertising Awards.

In the spot, picked by the jury of agency creative directors and client-side executives as their favorite, a young man is licking up beer he accidentally spilled on a magazine centerfold when his wife and mother unexpectedly return home.

Twenty-four agencies were awarded this year but three agencies – del Rivero Messianu DDB, Coral Gables, Fla., Dieste & Partners, Dallas, and Bromley Communications, San Antonio – were the big winners.

A total of 10 Golds, 16 Silver and 28 Bronze prizes were awarded. The Advertising Age Hispanic Creative Advertising Awards were started three years ago in partnership with the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA) to recognize the best U.S. Hispanic work in TV, radio, magazine, newspaper, out-of-home and interactive.

The winners were announced at an awards show, hosted by comedian Carlos Alazraqui and Rochelle Newman Carrasco, president of Enlace Communications, Los Angeles, on Saturday, September 8th, at the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies’ semiannual conference in New Orleans. The winning ads, with descriptions and creative credits, were also published in a special report in the September 10 issue of Advertising Age.

“For the third year AHAA is honored to partner with Ad Age for this prestigious awards competition,” said Horacio Gomes, president of AHAA. “This year’s awards are a celebration of creative excellence and a declaration that U.S. Hispanic advertising meets the highest standards of quality and imagination.”

For the first time, a complete Web version of the awards is available at http://www.adage.com. Visitors can watch all the winning commercials, listen to the top radio spots (or read an English-language translation) and view all the awarded print work. The site includes creative credits and descriptions of all the winning creative work, plus profiles of hot U.S. Hispanic creative directors.

In addition to Best of Show, Dieste won a Gold for Southwest Airlines and a Gold for a harrowing PSA commercial showing how child molesters perceive an innocent child as a provocative temptress. In addition to the three Gold awards, Dieste also won a Bronze.

In the package goods categories Bromley brings a striking creative dimension to work for Procter & Gamble Co., winning a Gold for Charmin toilet paper and a spot called “Gas Station” in which a squalid gas station restroom is transformed into an elegant bathroom as long as an elderly woman has her roll of Charmin with her. The agency also picked up Bronze awards for two other P&G brands, Nyquil and Dawn dishwashing liquid. In total, Bromley won two Gold and six Bronze awards.

Wieden & Kennedy, New York, swept the apparel category with Gold and Silver awards for their Nike commercials aimed at urban multicultural youth in Los Angeles.

Radio was dominated by Casanova Pendrill, Irvine, with a campaign for DirecTV, and a Bromley ad for Showtime. Both agencies won Gold awards.

Reynardus & Moya, New York, won a Silver award in the interactive category for its corporate Web site (www.reynardusandmoya.com).

The jury for Advertising Age’s Hispanic Creative Advertising Awards included four agency creative directors, three client-side Hispanic advertising executives, and two Ad Age editors. The judging panel included: Hector Prado, creative director, Bromley Communications, San Antonio; Jorge Moya, executive creative director, Reynardus & Moya, New York; Tere Davila, former creative director of Lopito, Ileana & Howie, San Juan, Puerto Rico; Tony Hidalgo, VP-creative services director of Leo Burnett, Mexico City; Hector Placencia, director, ethnic marketing, Gateway; Carmen Sepulveda, EVP-branding and campaign management for MetLife Bank; Manny Rodriguez, senior product manager, Claritin consumer marketing, Schering-Plough Corp.; Laurel Wentz, International/multicultural editor, Advertising Age; and Mercedes M. Cardona, financial editor, Advertising Age.

The Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies is the national organization of firms that specialize in marketing to the nation’s 35.3 million Hispanic consumers, the most rapidly growing segment of the American population. AHAA promotes the strength of the Hispanic marketing and advertising industry to the private and public sectors.

AHAA agencies offer a unique blend of cultural understanding, market intelligence, proven experience and professionalism that deliver Hispanic market success for clients. AHAA helps organizations gain market share, increase revenue and grow profits by building the bridges and delivering the messages to reach America’s Hispanic consumers, who together have an estimated buying power of $458 billion.