KARACHI: The Pakistan Advertisers Society (PAS) held its eighth annual awards night at the Expo Centre on Saturday to award the best campaigns in local advertising besides acknowledging individual and collective contributions, as well as to honour and give a tribute to veterans and trailblazers who have dedicated their lives to the field. Trophies were given out in 15 regular and 12 special categories, and three special awards.

The awards’ distribution hosted by Veena Malik and social media star Syed Shafaat Ali was punctuated with song and dance performances along with Bilal Khan, Rachel Viccaji and puppeteer Farooq Qaiser’s beloved Kaliyan characters such as Uncle Sargam, Haiga and others besides Rowan Atkinson’s Mr Bean doppleganger in Pakistan who kept popping up on stage at regular intervals throughout the evening.

Among those who spoke on the occasion were PAS official Qamar Abbas who thanked the sponsors and participants and ‘Time Traveller’ Taher A. Khan who spoke about how important it is for the mad men and women of advertising to focus on stories.

Advertising legend Bashir A. Khan of Manhattan Communications was conferred the PAS Lifetime Achievement Award which was received by Taimur Tajik. YouTube Pakistan also introduced the Ads Leaderboard Awards through which it awarded four major players in advertising.

The PAS awards’ recipients and categories are: Engro (Agriculture & Related Industries), Toyota Fortuna: Onwards It Is (Automotive & Transport), Gul Ahmed: Mein Perfect Hoon (Textile, Fashion & Accessories), McDonalds (Hotels, Fast Food & Restaurants), Strepsils Stereo (Hospitals, Health Care & Hygiene), Cornetto (Ice Creams & Desserts), Bonanza Satrangi (Passion for Pakistan), Karachi Biennale (Art, Culture & Entertainment ), McDonalds: #Salute all mothers (Season’s Special), Coca-Cola: Taking on Tea (Beverages-Cold), Sunsilk (Cosmetics & Personal Care), Shan Salt: Zarra Zarra Khalis (Culinary), HBL: PSL 2017 (Best in Corporate Communications), Knoor Noodles: Boriat Busters (Confectionery & Snacks), Surf Excel: Neki Ik Ibadat (Fabric Care, Home Care & Furnishing), PEL: Jaga Banane Mein Champion (Telecommunication Hardware & Consumer Electronics), UN Women Pakistan: The Bridal Uniform (Public Service & CSR), Djuice Telenor: Enriching Pakistan (Telecommunication Service Providers), Coca-Cola: Coke Studio Pakistan, Team Pepsi: Battle of the Bands launch song, Djuice 4G: Kuch Kar Guzar song, Unilever Paddle Pop (YouTube Ads Leaderboard Awards), Kenwood AC Inverter (Best in TV), IFlix Pakistan launch (Best in Media), Dawn of Pakistan (Best in Print), Rekab (Best in Outdoor), McDonalds: #Salute all mothers (Campaign for Good), Telenor (Best in PR), Lipton (Best in Digital), Jazz: Rising Star 2 (Best in BTL), Coca-Cola: Taking on Tea (Campaign of the Year & Best Nationally Originated Campaign) and Suzuki WagonR (Top Brand 2016).

Published in Dawn, April 16th, 2018