Leo Burnett Chicago was the top-scoring Gold Pencil winner in The One Show 2022, taking home 20 Golds, all for “The Lost Class” on behalf of Change the Ref.

“The Lost Class” campaign’s anthem video, directed by Bryan Buckley of Hungry Man, takes us to a strange graduation ceremony in which there’s no audience, just thousands of empty chairs--representing the 3,000-plus students who did not graduate the past year. They are instead dead, the victims of gun violence. Delivering the commencement address is an unlikely speaker, David Keene, former president of the NRA, which has used its power and influence to block stronger background checks and common-sense gun reform which could have saved many of these graduates’ lives. Keene believed his speech was for the graduation ceremony of a local Las Vegas high school, James Madison Academy. Instead Keene comes out onto the stage to find himself addressing empty seats about the bright futures they would never have.

All Gold, Silver, Bronze Pencil and Merit winners were announced in advance of The One Show 2022 in-person awards ceremony on May 20 in New York, where Special Awards including Best of Show, Best of Disciplines, Agency of the Year winners and others will be revealed.  

“The Lost Class” was the most-awarded One Show entry for the year, with its tally of 20 Gold Pencils for Leo Burnett Chicago consisting of: three each in Direct Marketing, Experiential & Immersive, and Out of Home; two each in Design, Film, Public Relations, and Social Media, and one each in Creative Use of Data, Health & Wellness, and Moving Image Craft. In addition, the agency received four Silvers, five Bronze and seven Merits for the work. “The Lost Class” also earned Hungry Man Los Angeles a Silver Pencil and a Merit. 

Nine One Show Gold Pencils were won by McCann Paris Neuilly-sur-Seine, all working with McCann Health London, McCann Worldgroup Germany Düsseldorf and Weber Shandwick Neuilly-sur-Seine for “The Bread Exam” on behalf of Spinneys and the Lebanese Breast Cancer Foundation.  Three of the Golds were in Direct Marketing, another three in Social Media, two in Public Relations, and one in Cultural Driver.

Africa São Paulo won eight Gold Pencils, four each for House of Lapland’s “Salla 2032”--two in Direct Marketing and one each in Integrated and Public Relations--and Folha de S.Paulo Newspaper’s “The Most Valuable News,” two in Design and one in Print.  

Dentsu Webchutney Bengaluru won seven Gold Pencils, all for VICE World News’ “The Unfiltered History Tour.”  Also with seven Golds was TBWA\Paris Boulogne-Billancourt, including five working with \Else Boulogne-Bilancourtfor for “Only Keep the Best of France” on behalf of Le Chocolat des Français.

Tied with six One Show Gold Pencils were 180LA Los Angeles, all for Cox Communications’ “Drawn Closer”; Area 23 New York, including three for The Columbia Journalism Review’s “The Inevitable News”; and Publicis Italy Milan, all for Heineken’s “Shutter Ads.”

A total of 19,579 pieces from 66 countries and regions were entered in The One Show 2022, an increase of 10.5% over last year.  Agencies, studios, brands, production companies and designers in 44 countries and regions were awarded 192 Gold Pencils, 164 Silver, 233 Bronze and 1,022 Merits. 

Special awards winners will be announced at The One Show 2022 ceremony on May 20, including Best of Show, Best of Disciplines, CMO Pencil, Fusion Pencil, Green Pencil, Penta Pencil, Sustainable Development Goals Pencil, and “of the Year” winners.

The One Show 20221 Global, Regional and Country Creative Rankings will be announced on May 23.

The showcase of all One Show 2022 Pencil and Merit winners can be viewed here.