Rethink wins Grand Prix, Agency of the Year at Epica

Rethink already knew it was leaving this year’s Epica Awards with two Golds, but a Grand Prix win Thursday evening helped put it at the top of all agencies at this year’s show.

The Epica Awards are voted on by journalists working in the global advertising and marketing trade press, including strategy.

Rethink won the Digital Grand Prix for the “Ketchup A.I.” campaign for Heinz Ketchup, one of seven Grand Prix awarded across different categories.

A follow up to the “Draw Ketchup” campaign, “Ketchup A.I.” was based on the premise that even when image generators are asked for images of ketchup, they come back with results that look like Heinz’ iconic bottle (a concept Epica’s jury tested out during judging to prove if it was true). Rethink used images of the ketchup bottles (created by pairing “ketchup” with an art style or other adjectives) throughout the campaign, even weird ones that featured bottles covered in a layer of fur or with an open mouth.

The Grand Prix, along with the two Gold, eight Silver and four Bronze the agency won, led to Rethink being named Agency of the Year honours at the awards.

Network of the Year went to McCann, which counted an Innovation Grand Prix for Mastercard’s “Touch Card” campaign and a Bronze win from McCann Canada among its wins.

Overall, Canada was the second-most awarded country at Epica this year, with 45 awarded projects including one Grand Prix and five Golds. It was behind Germany, which won 61 awards, including two Grand Prix and 10 Golds.

All of this year’s winning campaigns, including the Grand Prix, can be found on the Epica Awards website.