We took home a smelly duffle bag worth of awards at the 2024 AAF Buffalo Award Show.
Let me start by saying that I’ve never been to an organized summer camp. Sure, I’ve camped. But I never spent a summer away from my parents, sharing four walls with peers, whiling away the hours with a canoe, archery, hikes, poison ivy, counselors, and the like. So the picture my brain has painted of the whole buggy experience is almost entirely formed by pop culture – most notably, Friday the 13th and Nickelodeon’s Salute Your Shorts. (Okay, and maybe The Parent Trap. But only the Hayley Mills version.)
So it should come as no surprise I had few expectations when arriving at last night’s AAF Buffalo award show that featured summer camp as the 2024 theme. As per local shows in the past, folks were encouraged to dress the theme – and thus, patches, neckerchiefs, and cargo shorts were as prevalent as the collective squeals from agencies when their awards were announced. And as per shows in the past, there was a huge sense of pride throughout the room when taking in yet another year of our collective accomplishments as an ad community. And collective motivation to get our butts in gear to do even better with our remaining nine and half months.
For me, it would be really difficult to be any prouder than I am right now or than I was last night as our 37-going-on-38-year-old agency raked in the most awards overall (40) and the most golds (11). And for so many amazing clients of ours (15).
We won gold for Alleghany Farm Services, the Community Foundation of Greater Buffalo, Crowley Webb (hey now!), ESAB, Friends of Night People, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, and M&T Bank.
Alleghany Farm Services
Overview Brochure
Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo
Annual Report
Friends of Night People
Party for the People Posters
Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield
Bills/Highmark: Igloo Village
M&T Bank
Capture the Flag Activation
Undercover Diggs
Stefon Diggs × M&T Bank Campaign
Billieve Together Playoff Activation
Baltimore Ravens Gameday Billboards
Crowley Webb
CW Holiday Video
ESAB
FABTECH Campaign
And a whole slew of silvers for the BAND Against Bullying, Buffalo Prep, Crowley Webb (hey now!), Community Foundation of Greater Buffalo, the 11 Day Power Play, ESAB, Friends of Night People, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, Leadership Buffalo, M&T Bank, Praxis (hey now!), Ronald McDonald Charities of WNY, Sadie’s Foods, and Spring Garden Association.
Yes. A night I definitely felt a ton of pride. And comradery. We caught up with old friends and watched a few take home some major awards (yay, Kyle on your Joe Crowley Award for Service win!). We had some laughs and ate some questionable food. We stayed up late and told a few horror stories. We sang a little and smiled a lot. One or two of us got picked up early. So yeah, what about this night wasn’t like camp? I mean, we didn’t get chased by a machete-wielding maniac, nor did we meet our long-lost identical twins, leading to months of attempting to reconcile our estranged parents. You be the judge. Again, I’ve never been to camp.
(Cheers to all the winners last night.)
Matt Low
Chief Creative Officer