According to the multidisciplinary judging panel, the Topsy campaign for the HIV/Aids relief organisation was one of the stand-out entries to the competition. Other winners include Intel's 'The Chase', and Google's 'The Wilderness Downtown'. View all the winners at www.ted.com/initiatives/aws.
The challenge, which focused on online video, called on creative individuals around the world to submit their ads worth spreading, and culminated in thousands of entries. The winning ads were those that served to raise the bar, elevate the craft, and invent new forms of online engagement and they will receive thousands of dollars worth of exposure on TED.com, YouTube and Facebook, as well as during other large TED conferences in 2011.
Selinah, produced by Egg Films, features the true story of an Aids sufferer who experiences the ravaging effects of her disease being reversed over a period of 90 days through the administration of anti-retrovirals (ARVs). The remarkable piece serves as an illustration of the power of advertising to do good. Since the launch of the campaign last year, Topsy has seen an influx of support, and the number of patients requesting ARV treatment has also risen sharply.
Commented ECD Fran Luckin, who was in LA when the winners were announced, "We are proud and humbled to receive this recognition from what is undoubtedly one of the most powerful international gatherings of thought leaders in the world today.
"Selinah's power and deep emotional appeal seems to be able to transcend cultures and continents, and we are thrilled that what was a labour of love for the team continues to have such a positive impact on the world at large.
"Selinah has already enjoyed great success - both on and offline - in South Africa, and we are hoping that the TED recognition will elevate the campaign, and its message, to another level by exposing the plight of HIV/Aids sufferers, and the hope that ARV's provide, to a global audience.
For more: www.youtube.com/user/thetopsyfoundation.
