Apple wins 20 Pencils for ad campaigns at D&AD Awards

AdWeek reports that Apple tallied a total of 20 Pencils for various ad campaigns at this year’s virtual D&AD Awards. Winners of D&AD’s highest honor, the Black Pencil, won’t be announced until September.

The D&AD Awards honor “creative ideas imagined brilliantly, executed beautifully.” Design and Art Direction (D&AD, formerly known as British Design & Art Direction) is a British educational charity which exists to promote excellence in design and advertising. The Pencil is its equivalent of an advertising Academy Award.

The tech giant’s “Bounce” ad for AirPods took home two Yellow and three Graphite Pencils. It also won Best of Show at this year’s ADC Awards.

Apple won three Pencils, one Yellow and two Wood, for “The Underdogs,” a 3-minute film about a group of humdrum office workers who jump at the chance to pitch an idea they’ve cooked up: the circular pizza box. 

Apple’s “Hermitage” ad, created to illustrate the battery life of the iPhone 11 Pro, won a Graphite Pencil. The video, which clocks in (no kidding!) at 5 hours, 19 minutes and 28 seconds, takes viewers on a tour of the sprawling Hermitage Museum in Russia. 

“Wonderful Tools,” an animated film that shows how Apple’s products have evolved throughout the years, also garnered a Graphite Pencil.