The 4A's O'Toole Awards and the "Democratization" of American Advertising

Warc's U.S. editor, Geoffrey Precourt, discusses the 2010 O'Toole Awards, the annual competition run by the 4A's to recognise agencies' overall creative output.

The 4A’s O’Toole Awards and the “Democratization” of American Advertising

Geoffrey Precourt Warc

Click here for the full list of winners.

The annual O'Toole competition is sub-titled, "the biggest award in advertising", and with some cause. Named in honor of John O'Toole, the former president/ceo of the 4A's who also served as president/creative director of Foote, Cone & Belding, the prize is grand-scale in that it rewards an agency's overall level of creative excellence as opposed to just one piece of work.

On the first night of 2010 Advertising Week in New York, four agencies were O'Toole recipients. The...

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