Leo Burnett Chicago scored impressively this evening (5/18) at the ADC 101st Annual Awards, winning Agency of the Year and the coveted Black Cube for Best of Show for “The Lost Class” on behalf of Change the Ref.

The work, done with No. 6 New York and Hungry Man (directed by Bryan Buckley), also picked up Best of Disciplines in Advertising and Interactive, the Members’ Choice award, and the Designism Cube for the entry that best encourages positive societal and political change.  “The Lost Class” picked up a total of eight Gold Cubes, seven Silver, six Bronze and seven Merits.

Based on cumulative points for all Cubes and Merits won, the ADC 101st Annual Awards “of the Year” winners are:

• Agency of the Year: Leo Burnett Chicago
• Boutique Agency of the Year: L&C New York
• Brand-Side Agency of the Year: Google Devices & Services Creative Team Mountain View
• Design Team of the Year: The New York Times Magazine New York 
• Boutique Design Firm of the Year: Backbone Branding Yerevan (Armenia)
• Network of the Year: Leo Burnett Worldwide
• Production Company of the Year: Hungry Man Los Angeles
• Music & Sound Company of the Year: Beacon Street Venice
• Brand of the Year: Google 
• Non-profit Client of the Year: Change the Ref
• Freelancer of the Year (as selected by The One Club and Working Not Working): Ricardo Tomás Kalmar (Sweden) 
• Members’ Choice Awards: Leo Burnett Chicago with No. 6 New York and Hungry Man Los Angeles “The Lost Class” for Change The Ref

ADC 101st Annual Awards Best of Discipline winners:

• Advertising: Leo Burnett Chicago with No. 6 New York and Hungry Man Los Angeles “The Lost Class” for Change The Ref
• Brand/Communication Design: COLLINS New York for branding on behalf of Girl Scouts Of America
• Experiential Design: MullenLoweSSP3 with Macarena, both in Bogotá, “Illegal Classroom” for AB InBev Pony Malta
• Fashion Design: Zulu Alpha Kilo Toronto “Tough Turban” for Pfaff Harley-Davidson
• Illustration: The New York Times Magazine and Igor Bastidas “The Untold Story Of Sushi In America” for The New York Times Magazine
• In-House: Google Devices & Services Creative Team Mountain View for its own “Real Tone”
• Interactive:  Leo Burnett Chicago with No. 6 New York and Hungry Man Los Angeles “The Lost Class” for Change The Ref
• Motion/Film/Gaming Craft: WeTransfer Amsterdam “Aline - The French Dispatch” for Wes Anderson - Fox Searchlight Pictures
• Packaging Design: Zhihua He with Shanghai Version Design Group, both in Shanghai, “Yoseido” for Yoseido
• Photography: Todd Antony Photography London “Flying Stars - Amputee Footballers Of Sierra Leone”, Personal Project
• Product Design: Wunderman Thompson Argentina Buenos Aires “Degree Inclusive” for Unilever
• Publication Design: The New York Times Magazine for its own “The New York Times For Kids - October 2021”
• Spatial Design: Hakuten Corporation with Panoramatiks, both in Tokyo, “The Axis Of Peace” for Yokosuka City
• Typography: Superunion with Who Wot Why and There Is Studio, all in London, “Fight For Home” for Shelter

The ADC Fusion Cube, established last year along with The One Show Fusion Pencil is the industry’s first global award to recognize great work that best incorporates underrepresented groups in both the content of the ad and the team that made it, went to The Martin Agency, Richmond, Va., for UPS’ “Proudly Unstoppable,” and R/GA New York with Rock Paper Scissors Santa Monica, DeVries Global New York and m ss ng p eces for “Black Beauty Is Beauty” on behalf of Sephora.

The New York Times Magazine took home the most ADC Gold Cubes this year, winning nine for eight different entries, including two for “The Puzzle of Asian American Identity.”  Leo Burnett Chicago was close behind with eight Golds, followed by Alma DDB Miami with seven, all working with OMD and Carbo Films for various executions of Pepsi’s “Better With Pepsi” work.  

Wunderman Thompson Argentina Buenos Aires won six Gold Cubes, all for “Degree Inclusive” on behalf of Unilever.  Area 23 New York picked up five Golds, including two each for The Columbia Journalism Review’s “The Inevitable News” and Insmed Incorporated’s “Trapped.”

A total of 10,565 pieces were entered from 54 countries in the ADC 101st Annual Awards, a 15.7% increase over last year.  Agencies, studios, freelancers, brands and production companies in 36 countries were awarded a total of 95 ADC Gold Cubes, 114 Silvers, 172 Bronze and 381 Merits this year.  

The top five countries for winners were the US with 372, Germany with 91, China with 73, Japan with 46, and Canada with 37.  

A complete showcase of all ADC 101st Annual Awards Cube and Merit winners can be viewed here. 

In addition to announcement of this year’s winners, the evening featured a special presentation of the prestigious Manship Medallion, the original ADC competition award created by famed sculptor Paul Manship who made the Prometheus statue in Rockefeller Center, to 12 highly accomplished members of the creative community who have had a great impact on ADC through the years.

Here’s a rundown of the Manship Medallion honorees:

• Gail Anderson, celebrated designer and chair of BFA Design and BFA Advertising at the School of Visual Arts, past host of ADC Saturday Career Workshops, current board member of The One Club.
• Brian Collins, CCO at COLLINS, ADC board member who initiated the club’s annual “Designism: Design for Social Change” forum and Designism Cube special award for work that promotes positive societal and political change, organized numerous exhibitions and talks at the ADC Gallery, current One Club board member and treasurer.
• Myrna Davis, ADC executive director emeritus, who served 13 years as ADC executive director.
• Olga Grisaitis, who served 22 years as ADC associate director, director of operation, acting director and executive director.
• George Lois, ad legend, ADC past president when ADC and The Copy Club joined forces to create The One Show, initiated the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame when president, ADC Hall of Fame laureate.
• Philippe Meunier, cofounder/creative chief at Sid Lee, ADC past president when ADC came together with The One Club to form The One Club for Creativity.
• Bill Oberlander, ADC past president, co-creator of  ADC Young Guns, now a premiere global competition for creatives age 30 and under, responsible for moving the Art Directors Club to the ADC Gallery space.
• Georg Olden, graphic designer who was the first African-American member of the Art Directors Club, served as an ADC officer and contributed to the design of ADC Annuals.
• Paula Scher, legendary designer, partner, Pentagram, ADC Hall of Fame laureate who designed a number of Annuals and reiterated the club’s monogram in 2002.
• Eileen Hedy Schultz, professor of Graphic Arts, School of Visual Arts, the first and only woman to serve as ADC president, a champion for arts education during her ADC tenure.
• Rich Tu, GCD at Jones Knowles Ritchie, Young Guns 8 winner, perennial active supporter of club initiatives, cofounder and underwriter of Young Guns COLORFUL grant program for BIPOC creatives
• Richard Wilde, former chair BFA Advertising and BFA Design departments at School of Visual Arts, ADC Hall of Fame and The One Club Educator’s Hall of Fame laureate, past ADC board member, actively involved in the early years of the club’s Saturday Career Workshops for high school students.

The awards ceremony also included a belated celebration of ADC’s historic 100th anniversary, which was postponed last year due to the pandemic, and included important members and winners from throughout ADC history.