Small firms nab
2005’s Pele Awards

"I was so happy to see all the little guys winning, maybe for the first time," said Barbara Scott, chairwoman of District 13 of the American Advertising Federation and executive producer of the Pele Awards.

This year's 53 local annual advertising awards, chosen from 690 entries, were presented last night at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

Multiple awards were presented to Laird Christianson Advertising, which won five Pele Awards plus Best of Show for broadcast advertising; Matsumoto & Clapperton Advertising, four Pele Awards plus Best of Show for print advertising; Milici Valenti Ng Pack, four Pele Awards; Hendrix Miyasaki Shin Advertising, three Pele Awards; and Brett Wagner Creative Services, two Pele Awards along with Maui's Gilbert & Associates and Sae design.

Big dogs of the past, such as Starr Seigle Advertising, were notably absent from the winners' roster.

Taking the places of many of the former large, dominant ad agencies, were small, in many cases one-person operations.

Also this year, a book done in black and white won a Best of Show in design. The book "Ku'e, Thirty Years of Land Struggles in Hawaii," was produced by Mutual Publishing Co.

Usually the design judges and advertising judges don't agree but each group singled out the book as the best in its category, Scott said.

The Hawaii Advertising Federation's Silver Medal this year was presented to Carl Hebenstreit, president of Trade Publishing Co. Known to generations of Hawaii people as television show host "Kini Popo" in the 1950s and 1960s, Hebenstreit was honored for contributions to the industry, a consistently high degree of original thinking and investment in the community.

The Advertising Agency Association of Hawaii's Media Person of the Year award was presented to Debbie Joseph, president of Destination Marketing Hawaii. Jane Pascua, production manager for Matsumoto & Clapperton, was named Advertising Woman of the Year; Craig Matsumoto, principal of Matsumoto & Clapperton, Advertising Man of the Year; and Dana Lehman-Gyllen, promotions manager at Honolulu Publishing Co., was named Outstanding Young Advertising Person of the Year.

The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Walter Soares, retired owner and president of General Printing Co.

In color newspaper advertising, Matsumoto & Clapperton won for its "TV" ad for C.S. Wo while Gilbert & Associates won the black-and-white newspaper advertising award for its "We Could've Done That" ad for Allens Plumbing.

A radio advertising Pele went to Laird Christianson for its "I Tried Everything" spot for Taste of Honolulu.

Television advertising awards are separated according to budget. For a TV spot with a budget of more than $25,000, the winner was "Snowblower" for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Hawaii, produced by Milici Valenti Ng Pack.

The Pele for TV advertising between $10,000 and $25,000 went to Hendrix Miyasaki Shin for its "Sperm" commercial for AIG Hawaii.

Under $10,000, the Pele for best TV spot went to "Don't Be Fooled," for Taste of Honolulu, by Laird Christianson Advertising.

A complete list of winners will eventually be posted at www.hafspot.com .

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