Extreme Group Takes Home a Lion!

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Extreme Group, along with the Workers' Compensation Board of Nova Scotia , Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Worker's Compensation Board of PEI have taken home a Bronze Lion in the Product and Service, public health and safety category for their "nail" television commercial at the 2008 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. This is the first time a Nova Scotian agency has taken home one of these prestigious awards.

“It makes us proud that the work we’ve done with Extreme Group is winning international awards and continues to receive recognition around the world,” said Mary Kingston, Director of marketing and communications for the Worker’s Compensation Board of Nova Scotia. “Our top priority is to reduce the number of people injured on the job in Nova Scotia, but it’s great when the work you do does that and more.”

The ad “nail” created a big emotional response from viewers for its nearly graphic depiction of how a seemingly harmless object can cause a serious injury if left ignored. “We are really proud of the work we’ve done with the WCB, they have been a great group to work with and we’ve always seen eye to eye in terms of our creative vision- it’s a great collaboration that’s given us winning results,” said Paul Leblanc, CEO of Extreme Group.

"It's takes a great group of people to make things like this happen time and time again and I'm thrilled for our team and our client,” said Shawn King, Vice President and Creative Director of Extreme Group. “It's an amazing combination that proves how important the right relationships are in this business. It's a good day in advertising."

Extreme Group has been on the Cannes Lions short list several times, and has had a total of seven pieces of work in the festival as a finalist since 2004. The first year, three television commercials for Nova Scotia Health Promotion and Protection (“Great Reasons to Smoke”) were featured. In 2005, “Great Reasons to Smoke” was short listed again for its cinema spot. In 2007, the Workers’ Compensation Board of Nova Scotia website www.notworthit.ca made the Charities, Public Health & Safety and Public Awareness category. This year, in addition to “nail” Extreme Group had another spot on the list “ladder", also for the WCB.

The Cannes Lions received over 28,000 entries this year across ten competition sections and from countries around the world. Canadian agencies took home three Lions.