Epic wins for BBDO in Asia and MENAP at the Epica this year, focusing on impact first
MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2022
Middle East and Asia, December 16, 2022 – At the recently concluded Epica, IMPACT BBDO, BBDO India and BBDO Bangkok brought home gold and silver awards with works focused on impact, led by three creatives who are pioneering the field.
In contrast to other design and advertising awards, the Epica Awards are judged by the industry’s press, composed of 35 editors and senior reporters from marketing magazines. Out of the 3099 entries that were made this year, some work took home top honours. Among those who got recognised for their work were IMPACT BBDO, BBDO India and BBDO Bangkok.
In response to these wins, Josy Paul, Chairman of BBDO India, who has spoken at Cannes Lions in the past about the future of advertising said; “It’s evident from the work celebrated here, among all of the winning work that approaching advertising with a mindset of creating acts, not ads, is the way to go. The future of advertising should be about driving meaningful action. That’s what good advertising does. It goes beyond just selling physical goods. It has the power to help us see societal issues differently.”
In recent years, brands have been shifting their focus from the pursuit of just profit to purpose-driven work.”It’s truly a remarkable time to be creative. You have the power and the opportunity to truly make your work bring about a real impact on society, and make a positive change,” said Ali Rez, Chief Creative Officer IMPACT BBDO MENAP.
BBDO India’s see ‘Equal #ShareTheLoad’, for P&G’s Ariel detergent brought home gold at the Epica Awards for Creativity 2022 last week. Since 2015, Ariel India has continuously sparked conversations around the unequal division of domestic chores within households and urging more and more men to #ShareTheLoad. The works have won multiple Cannes Lions since then, but most importantly, they’ve made an impact in India. In 2015, 79% of men believed that laundry is a woman’s job. Today, that number has dropped to 26%.
Regarding their latest Epica win, Josy said; “We are thrilled that our work has been recognized at the Epica Awards for Creativity 2022. We started the brand movement for social change in 2015 and it’s rewarding to see its impact on brand and culture. It’s the longest-running movement for any brand in India that’s been winning year after year. We thank our enlightened client and all our media, PR and activation partners for this record-breaking win. Our latest film has been viewed over 115 million times across platforms and we’re humbled to see so many people that keep watching the work, keeping the impact going.”
Thasorn Boonyanate, Chief Creative Officer, BBDO Bangkok added; “#ShareTheLoad has helped us see gender equality and in-home equality from a different perspective. This is not about content, but context and insights.”
Provoking change is sometimes referred to as changing the way we approach change. “In a time when newspapers are dying, AnNahar with the help of Impact BBDO decided to show how important they are. It’s one of the most powerful pieces of work I’ve seen so far in 2022,” said Thasorn Boonyanate.
IMPACT BBDO brought home gold for this work dubbed “The Elections Edition”, a campaign that was directed at Lebanon’s government claiming they couldn’t hold elections due to ink and paper shortages. Driven by this, the local newspaper AnNahar and Impact BBDO created a campaign to donate ink and paper to the government’s printing associate instead of using it to print their daily edition. To take a stand, the daily paper ceased publishing for the first time in its 88-year history. The powerful message of support spread like wildfire across the nation as citizens donated books, magazines, and paper to the government to secure the election.
Ali Rez, Chief Creative Officer IMPACT BBDO MENAP said “AnNahar truly believes in the impact purposeful work can have. They have consistently been incredibly courageous about using their newspaper to drive positive change in society – in this case, to protect Lebanese democracy. This campaign is the perfect example of how a traditional medium can be transformed into a highly integrated activation that is medium agnostic. In fact, the print medium for a newspaper in this case didn’t even exist.”
When it comes down to tackling serious health issues, Thailand has taken an unusually entertaining route. Responding to concerns raised by the Thai Health Promotion Foundation about the adverse effects of e-cigarettes on cognitive memory functions, with young Thais as the majority of users, BBDO Bangkok with lead Creative Head Thasorn Boonyanate wanted to approach this serious topic with a less serious tone.
The result? An entertaining animated mini-film called “The Experimental”, featuring a brilliantly funny fuzzball, Sunny, in a Korean laboratory and Baifern, his girlfriend, discussing Sunny’s e-cigarette addiction and its side effects. And for its approach, it won a Silver in the Public Interest – Health & Safety Online Film category.
“We were over the moon when we heard that we had won the Epica Award. Teens are crazy about e-cigarettes, but few are aware of the damage they actually pose. By adding a little humour, the video became a sharing hit, and even sparked the creation of memes among this young gen. Hopefully, more people will become aware of the effects of e-cigarettes. Thanks to Mum Films’ legendary commercial director Suthon Petchsuwan for partnering with us on this work,” added Thasorn Boonyanate, Chief Creative Officer of BBDO Bangkok.
Commenting on ‘The Experimental,’ Ali Rez said that “Thailand has an amazing reputation of making brilliant comedy work, and this is yet another fantastic example of it. A serious topic tackled in a humorous manner with memorable storytelling, engaging characters, and superb craft: absolutely brilliant.”
Josy Paul added, “The Experimental’ is fully mental! It is humour on steroids! A brilliant mix of animation and live-action story, this highly entertaining film presents genuine medical advice with ‘Thai’ lightness and quirkiness.The Thai Health Promotion Foundation and BBDO Bangkok promotes good health in a fresh and compelling manner.”
You can find the full results of this year’s winners at epica-awards.com.
Chula Medicine Determines “Cytokines” as Indicator of “Degenerative Joints”
MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2022
Chula Medicine announced the discovery of “cytokines” in the body’s immune system that can determine the severity of osteoarthritis in elderly adults, hoping to facilitate the planning of follow-up and treatment of the disease, and reduction of its severity.
Older adults and osteoarthritis seem to be two peas in a pod. As they age, many older adults begin to walk more slowly, and have a more difficult time going up and getting down the stairs with joint popping and crackling, or sometimes joint pain, be it the knees, the hips, or finger joints. The disease, although not life-threatening, undermines their happiness and quality of life.
“Osteoarthritis is a major public health problem in Thailand and around the world, affecting the quality of life of older people. The longer Thai people live today, the more they will have this disease. It is incurable, but if we can predict its severity, we will be able to find a way to lessen its impact,” Professor Sittisak Honsawek, M.D., Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University elaborated on the inception of the research project “Cytokines and Biochemistry Substances as Indicator and Target of Osteoarthritis Treatment” which received an Excellent Research Award by Chula personnel in health science 2021.
For more than 10 years in research, Sittisak and his team have been arduously working on this study to understand the causes of osteoarthritis, its mechanisms, and its severity indicators to determine ways of monitoring, preventing, and mitigating the disease, which will improve the patient’s quality of life.
Cytokines and osteoarthritis According to Sittisak, the study of osteoarthritis mechanisms show that some cytokines contribute to bringing about the disease and contribute to its progression.
“Cytokines are a group of proteins secreted by inflamed cells within the joints. Cytokines and some biochemicals encourage cartilage cells to secrete substances that aid cartilage formation and breakdown. The presence of unbalanced cytokines induces faster degeneration of cartilage, causing more degeneration of the joints.”
This discovered knowledge can be used to develop a monitoring process of patients to predict if their case of osteoarthritis would become acute in the future, as well as find ways to reduce or inhibit the cytokines responsible for osteoarthritis.
Currently, cytokine levels are only measured after the patients have undergone arthroplasty.
“After surgery, we will measure cytokine levels that help indicate whether there may be complications from inflammation. If the levels are very high, it indicates that there may be a postoperative infection. Therefore, antibiotics are needed until cytokine levels drop to normal,” He said.
Getting to Know osteoarthritis and its risk factors The major cause of osteoarthritis is the degeneration of articular cartilage with age, which can occur in people aged 40 and over, and is evident in people aged 60 and over — the greater the age, the more likelihood of osteoarthritis. According to recent statistics, more than 50 % of people aged 70 and over have osteoarthritis.
“All the joints in the body are made up of two bones: the hard bone and the cartilage. As people age, cartilage production deteriorates, resulting in the loss of cartilage function. The body then stimulates cartilage cells to produce cytokines, causing inflammation of the tissues around the joints, ligaments, and muscles,” He explained the mechanism of osteoarthritis in older adults, which occurs in various joints in the body, but the most common is the knee joints, followed by the hip joints and the knuckles.
Apart from the age factor, women are 2 – 3 times more likely to suffer from osteoarthritis than men because of the reduction in hormone production during menopause, thus affecting the quality of cartilage. Moreover, another risk factor is excessive body weight which contributes to more severe osteoarthritis.
Symptoms and severity levels of osteoarthritis The degree of severity of osteoarthritis varies depending on the duration of the disease. At first, joint pain occurs when walking, standing, or going up and down the stairs. Then, the joints begin to make noise. You need to take a rest after walking for a while. The symptoms will improve when you stop putting pressure on the joints.
If osteoarthritis becomes more acute, the patients will experience pain, swelling in the joints, inflammation, or inability to bend or fully extend the joints. In severe cases, the joints will become bent and disfigured, causing knee flexion, and finger flexion. X-rays will show bone spurs piercing the tissue in the knee joints, causing inflammation and pain.
“This disease is not fatal, but it makes it impossible to live a normal life. Quality of life has been deteriorating in patients who have had this disease for a long time. Muscle weakness may be caused by inactivity, and 50 % of osteoarthritis patients have a chance of having bilateral osteoarthritis.”
Healable though not curable Although osteoarthritis is incurable, there are ways to improve the quality of life and reduce pain. According to Sittisak, after the patient has been diagnosed through an X-ray for the abnormalities in the joints, they will undergo one of the 3 types of treatment currently available, depending on the severity of the disease, starting with no medication, medication, and surgery as a last resort.
Nonmedicinal treatment Sittisak says that 80 % of people with osteoarthritis are overweight, so proper weight management will reduce the shock exerted on the joints and alleviate joint pain.
“To calculate excessive weight, Body Mass Index (BMI) can be used as an indicator by dividing body weight in kg by height in meters raised to the power of 2. The figure between 18-23 is a normal range. Another simple calculation is by subtracting your height in cm. with 100. If your weight exceeds the result, you are overweight.”
He advised the patients to regularly exercise the muscles around the joint to strengthen them, especially knee joints, by stretching their legs for 10 seconds and lowering them. Repeat for 20 sets of 20. Joint support braces or a cane will help patients improve their gait.
Treatment with medication for example, with a pain reliever, muscle relaxants, or anti-inflammatory drugs. Moreover, injections are also available to help patients with an early stage of osteoarthritis, i.e., hyaluronic acid, or platelet-rich plasma to alleviate joint inflammation.
“Cold compress must be administered in the first 24 hours to allay joint pain from inflammation. Once the symptoms improved, but later exhibit persistent flare-ups, a warm compress can be used. This will help improve blood circulation in the area and relax the muscles,” advised Sittisak on pain management, while recommending acupuncture and ultrasound treatment as alternatives for joint pain treatment as well.
Surgery This method is used in acute cases in which joint deformities or excessive pain are found to interfere with patients’ work and daily life. There are many types of surgeries: arthroscopy to detect bone spurs, or splints inside the joints and clean the joints up, bone deformities correction surgery,
“The last type is arthroplasty (joint replacement surgery) which will help improve the patient’s quality of life, by giving them a chance to lead a normal life. How long the artificial joints will last depend on care and maintenance.”
Vitamin D & E for bone enhancement He added that this research project also studies the efficiency of Vitamin D2 supplements in 200 osteoarthritis patients who received treatment at the Department of Orthopaedics, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital. Patients aged 60 and older who were found to have Vitamin D lower than 30 nanograms per millilitre were given 2 Vitamin D2 pills (Ergocalciferol 20,000 unit/pill) per week for 6 months.
Vitamin D2 helps stimulate bone construction, and the formation of minerals, calcium, magnesium, and phosphate in the bones. Vitamin D also works with parathyroid hormone in intestinal calcium absorption, as well as promoting the kidneys’ reabsorption of calcium thereby increasing the level of blood calcium which helps strengthen the bone further. Moreover, Vitamin D also increases the muscles’ stamina, strength, and functioning.
He further stated that the research team also studied the use of Vitamin E supplements in osteoarthritis patients by having them take the vitamin E for 2 months.
Vitamin E helps decrease antioxidants in the body. It was found that vitamin E helps relieve joint pain and promote joint functioning.
The recommended dose of Vitamin D is 400-600 IU/day and 40-200 IU/day for Vitamin E. The recommended dose varies according to the age and physical conditions of each individual. Therefore, taking D and E vitamin supplements should be under the supervision of physicians or pharmacists.
Who should take Vitamin D supplements? 1. People who risk Vitamin D deficiency like the elderly and pregnant women; 2. Patients with osteoporosis and low bone mass; 3. Chronic-kidney disease patients; 4. Patients with certain intestinal diseases that cause defective intestinal Vitamin D absorption; 5. People with defective lipid digestion and absorption (because Vitamin D is fat-soluble) decrease vitamin D absorption as well.
Change your behaviour to slow down joint degeneration He further advised the elderly who suffer from osteoarthritis to avoid behaviours that would exacerbate their conditions such as kneeling, sitting crossed-legged, squatting, or walking up and down the stairs often. They should also exercise to strengthen joint muscles and do other types of exercises like swimming, walking, and light biking.
“More importantly, they should control their weight to minimize shock on the knee joints, and slow down osteoarthritis,” Sittisak concluded.
People with osteoarthritis conditions can contact the Department of Orthopaedics, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, 5th Floor, Phor Por Ror Building, tel. +66-2256-5351 for doctor’s appointments during and outside of office hours (Orthopaedics Clinic).
Scaloni says they’ll have to save a spot for Messi in 2026
MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2022
Reuters
Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni said that he will keep Lionel Messi’s jersey ready in case the talismanic captain wishes to play at the next World Cup after he ended the country’s 36-year wait to hoist the golden trophy again.
On a night of high drama, Messi scored two goals and again in the shootout as he led Argentina to an emotional 4-2 win on penalties over France on Sunday (December 18), with the match ending in a 3-3 draw following 120 minutes of breathtaking action.
After finally fulfilling a lifelong dream by lifting the ultimate prize in world soccer, many thought the 35-year-old Messi may never again come out wearing the famed blue and white stripes of Argentina. But within a few moments, Messi declared that he does not plan to retire from international duty in near future.
It was a decision welcomed by his coach.
“He can have the number 10 jersey as long as he wants,” Scaloni told a news conference.
“He earned the right to do whatever he wants with his career. What he transmits to his team mates is incredible. I have never seen such an influential person in the changing room.
With the World Cup triumph coming just two years following the death of Diego Maradona, who had famously led Argentina to their last title in 1986, an emotional Scaloni said: “You’ve just made me remember that Maradona isn’t here anymore. I still think he’s here sometimes.”
“Certainly, if he were still here, he’d have been the first fan to run onto the pitch. I’ll say it again, it’s only after you asked me the question that I remember he’s not with us. We wish he was here with us, but I hope he enjoyed it.”
He also wept as it dawned on him what the win meant to the millions of people who had followed the team’s journey from home, including his family and friends.
“It wasn’t in my plans being world champion. It’s madness,” Scaloni said.
“That is no bigger pride than representing your country and I hope we made our fans proud.”
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni celebrates winning the World Cup with the trophy
As for Scaloni’s French counterpart, Didier Deschamps, coming so close to winning the World Cup again made after staging an incredible comeback only to lose on penalties, made the defeat all the more difficult to swallow.
Les Bleus were bidding to become the first team to retain the title since Brazil in 1962, but went through the first hour of the match like ghosts.
Deschamps was forced to make several changes to his starting lineup, taking off Olivier Giroud, Ousmane Dembele, Antoine Griezmann and Theo Hernandez, before France burst into life as Kylian Mbappe scored a penalty and a stunning volley within 97 seconds to level the scores.
France
“We came back from the brink, that’s what gives us so many regrets,” Deschamps, who guided France to the title in 2018, told a news conference.
“We’re one kick away from winning the World Cup in the last minute but it was not meant to be. If we’re 2-0 down and then we lose 3-0, it’s different. You say ‘bravo Argentina and that’s it.”
“I still congratulate them, they played a great game, with a bit of craftiness, but we were expecting that and it does not take any merit from their victory.”
France were hit by a virus during the lead-up to the final and appeared to lack their usual aggression in the first half.
“We did not have the energy we had in our previous games but I was not worried with any player who started the game tonight,” Deschamps said.
Kolo Muani and Marcus Thuram came on in the 41st minute, before Eduardo Camavinga and Kingsley Coman entered the fray in the 71st.
“(For the first two changes) I could not wait until halftime. Ousmane and Olivier took us to the final but they were not as good today. When things don’t work, you have to shake things up,” said Deschamps.
“In the end, I’m very sad for my players, my staff.”
Deschamps’s contract expires at the end of the year but having reached the goal of making it to the last four, he must decide whether to extend it.
“I’m having a meeting with my president at the beginning of the year. Then, you’ll know,” said Deschamps, who has been in charge since 2012, reaching the Euro 2016 final, winning the 2018 World Cup, last year’s Nations League and making it to the World Cup final again.
The coin could have flipped the other way, especially thanks to Mbappe’s magnificent performance as he became the second player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final.
“He wanted to make his mark on this World Cup. He did, but not as much as he wanted,” Deschamps said. France coach Didier Deschamps walks past the World Cup trophy after receiving the silver medal
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni celebrates winning the World Cup with the trophy
France coach Didier Deschamps walks past the World Cup trophy after receiving the silver medal
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