Tribal DDB-Mentored Dodge Grace High School Wins Advertising Futures Student Competition at Advertising Week

NEW YORK, Oct. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- A group of five Grace Dodge High School students won first place this week at the Advertising Week Advertising Futures competition, a partnership between the Ad Council, the New York City Department of Education and Virtual Enterprises. The program is in its eighth year and pairs teams of high school students with top advertising agencies to be mentored through the creation of an ad -- from conception to execution.

Mentored by Tribal DDB New York, the winning students from Grace Dodge High School competed with students from more than 30 other public high schools in New York City -- also paired with agencies -- to develop a campaign to tackle teen obesity. The students were tasked with creating a public service announcement for First Lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" initiative, which is aimed at encouraging teens to think and act differently about diet and exercise, and about the amount of time they spend online and using mobile technology.

The number of obese children in the U.S. is at an all-time high, with more children than ever developing obesity-related illnesses like diabetes, heart disease indicators, sleep apnea, and asthma. This is the first generation of young Americans who will see 25 percent of their peers fail to qualify for military service because they are overweight, and this may be the first generation of kids who do not live as long as their parents did.

"Brilliant work by Grace Dodge and Tribal DDB," said Matt Scheckner, Executive Director of Advertising Week. "While all of the students and agencies in Advertising Futures benefit by participating, there is a winner each year and we could not be more proud of or agree more with the campaign, 'Don't Indulge the Bulge.'"

"It was refreshing to work with students who thought creatively and who challenged us as well as themselves," said Kinney Edwards, Group Creative Director, Tribal DDB New York. "They wanted to win from the start, but questioned the very possibility with great disbelief. We asked them to focus on an idea that they could believe in, something that they could walk away from knowing they had exhausted all possibilities and which felt right and had meaning, even if the idea didn't win."

"Once we had helped the students frame the challenge for themselves, we initiated fluid thinking and facilitated an atmosphere of being open to all ideas," said Jason Macbeth, Creative Director, Tribal DDB New York. "Towards the end of the process we encouraged them to scrutinize all of their potential ideas, to be absolutely certain that the idea they decided to develop met the brief squarely. We're very excited about Grace Dodge's win."

The ad, which will run in The New York Times and appear on a Times Square billboard, was designed by the students to generate awareness and encourage other students to choose real play, real interactions, and real food. The creative is based on their insight that "the bulge" -- which represents junk food, lack of activity, and increased time spent online, watching TV, playing video games and texting -- is something that kids can either choose to indulge in or take an active role in fighting. The ad -- "Don't Indulge the Bulge" -- features happy, healthy, active students outside, opting not to give in to the "bulge." The illustration was created pro bono by Canadian artist Ted Hammond.

About Tribal DDB Worldwide

Tribal DDB Worldwide (www.tribalddb.com), an Advertising Age A-List Agency, is headquartered in New York with 60 offices spanning 42 countries around the globe.  Since it was founded in 2000, Tribal DDB has expanded and been recognized well beyond its digital roots.  By 2005 Tribal DDB was named Interactive Agency of the Year by Adweek and at the Cannes International Advertising Festival, where it took home the most Lions and the Cyber Grand Prix. This was followed in 2007 by Tribal DDB being the first "digital" agency to win Global Agency Network of the Year from Advertising Age, and then, in 2009, being the first to win the Grand Prix in Film at the International Advertising Festival at Cannes. Tribal DDB continues to draw on its expertise in digital innovation and its heritage of creativity and insights to bring clients the most effective and differentiating marketing solutions for today's world.  Tribal DDB Worldwide is part of Omnicom Group's DDB Worldwide.

About DDB

DDB Worldwide Communications Group Inc. (www.ddb.com) ranks among the top five consolidated advertising and marketing services global networks, according to Advertising Age. Consistently one of the most awarded networks globally for creative excellence, DDB was Campaign's 2009 Global Network of the Year, the 2010 Spikes Asia Network of the Year, 2010 Eurobest Network of the Year, 2010 Campaign Asia Pacific Creative Network of the Year and captured both the Cyber Grand Prix and Film Craft Grand Prix at the 2010 International Advertising Festival in Cannes. With more than 200 offices in over 90 countries, DDB Group believes in the power of Social Creativity to grow the value and influence of brands around the world by creating ideas that people want to play with, participate in and pass along.  DDB Worldwide is part of Omnicom Group Inc. (OMC).

SOURCE Tribal DDB