Inside the Jury Room: No-Brainers and System Hacking Among Germany’s 2024 Immortal Finalists

For the full case study of this campaign, see here.

“One of the reasons I voted yes for this and thought it was actually a strong piece, is that it's very simple. It's a very simple piece of work. It doesn't try to reinvent anything. It's just taking facts and presenting it in a way that's emotionally hard hitting. It's also relevant to the current political climate, not just in Europe, but the Middle East, Asia, everywhere. You could replicate this campaign with local insights, and it would still have the same impact. For me, I think this is something that will resonate even 10 years from now. It's not about the bells and whistles. Sometimes the simplest work is the most hard hitting work and can get you choked up.

“The most intriguing part is that we kind of catch ourselves, because we would all fall for these people if we wouldn't know better. There's a big, big truth in there, and everybody is kind of touched by it when you get to see it, and that's why I completely root for it.”

“This one was a no brainer. This campaign is so strong, and the impact on the others and on myself was quite intense. When listening to that speech - first of all, I just was listening to it before looking at the pictures. 20 seconds later, I realised that I know that voice. And then it came. After 10 more seconds, I realised, oh, my goodness, this is him. It had such a strong impact on me that I just had to choose this campaign as the winner of all of these campaigns we were watching today.”

“I am really interested in the actual, real impact in that moment, while I actually consume it and see it. This is why I voted for this campaign, because I felt that the whole narrative of how the case was presented was very nice, as well as the case itself. The intellectual twist is very interesting because it catches you, and it brings awareness of how the narrative of our world works against us, and how easy it is to manipulate us. We tend to follow narratives everywhere that are highly infectious and dangerous. Something I do love the most about this one is the way it was presented. It had the production value, as well as the amazing idea. I'm into craft, and I'm into aesthetics and it combines that world with those perfectly.”

Laut gegen Nazis e.V. - Rights against the Right: The first trademark that stops trading Nazi merch (submitted by Jung von Matt)

“There are many ways to address something like extremism or neo Nazi elements in Germany. You could go linear, and you could just attack them head on, but you're going to face resistance. It's not going to solve the problem. It's not going to push us ahead in either direction. What I really like about this is that it uses their own weapons against them, and I think that is so smart. The people that did the campaign had to be anonymous because this is real. That's also something that I like - this is a real campaign. It makes an actual difference. This is not something that was made for an award show. This is something that actually happened. You can listen to politicians talking about how we fight 'blah, blah, blah', but then you have something like this that takes a small step in the right direction - pun intended.”

“The NGO Laut gegen Nazis is really known for turning procedures and thought mechanisms upside down. They were really famous 10 years ago, I think, or maybe even longer, for the march against Nazis, where also Nazis were basically fueling and supporting an anti Nazi organisation just by simply existing. I feel that is a strategy they've still pulled through up to today in such a brilliant manner. Having the trademark rights of Nazi gear actually fuelling the work against Nazis for a more inclusive and accessible world is just genius. It's just brilliant. It hacks the system. It's fun, and it definitely makes a point.”

“This is so smart because, in effect, it didn't really do that much, but the message spread so greatly and so big that it had a much bigger effect than just doing what they did, which was smart in itself, but the spread was so huge that I think this is just an amazing job done by the agency and done by the case itself.”

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung - The 100th Edition (submitted by Scholz & Friends)

“This stood out to me for obvious reasons, but mostly because of Margot Friedlander and the choice from the newspaper to use her as their 100th edition. She is amongst 99 other very, very good choices, but in the current climate, immortalising her in this campaign and in this issue really stood out to me for due to the current climate that we live in, but also to reflect on history as well. The actual shot of it too - she is the protagonist. But if you dive deeper into where she's sitting, you have everybody behind her. That's what that memorial (Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Berlin) really means. When you stand inside of it, you are one of many. You're not alone. There's also an eerie feeling when you stand in the middle of this monument. So, zooming out, she's sitting there by herself, but she's never alone.”

“This was not the first campaign they did, it was the 100th - it's a legacy. In 10 years, you can do the same again, because this campaign is so powerful and you have so many possibilities to do with it.”

“I don't even know how long this campaign has been running, but it already seems Immortal, right? There will always be motives happening, and there always new motives will show up because it's a never ending story. Finding these great, great true images is such a beautiful thing every time you see another one of these, and I can't wait, actually, to see the 101st edition.”

“I'm really, really proud to celebrate the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung campaign as a whole, but in this case, especially the 100th edition, is definitely worse celebrating it like hell, because it is so deep, so well made. This is our history. It is immortal. There is a responsibility to keep the level for every motive. But here is that level, definitely.”