“To be awarded a D&AD accolade is ridiculously difficult… I am thus beyond proud of our team that put together the Team of Millions campaign. This is our first work to get the global nod. All I can think is that those over 10 000 fans in the Team of Millions photo are smiling along with us,” said Brad Reilly, chief creative officer, The Jupiter Drawing Room (Johannesburg).

The annual D&AD Awards are signified by their ‘Yellow Pencil’ trophies which “set the absolute reference standard for creative excellence,” said the awards association. D&AD describes itself as a “restless, enquiring, agitating organisation, determined to perpetuate brilliance in commercial creativity. It constantly pushes boundaries, initiating debate and encouraging experimentation, nurturing a tradition of craft skills and celebrating excellence within the creative industries and beyond.”

The ‘Team of Millions’ advertising campaign for Absa’s sponsorship of the Springboks rallied thousands of Springbok fans in support of the Springbok team ahead of last year’s Rugby World Cup, emphasising that the 50-million South Africans behind the 15 Springboks were not mere fans, but an intrinsic part of the ‘team’.

Reilly explained: “The team pull-out poster certainly was the biggest photographic execution we’ve ever done. Hundreds of hours were put into the image development. Our art director, Gareth Pretorius, says it’s as if The Jupiter Drawing Room Johannesburg landed on the moon. We’ve achieved such an enormous and hopefully – enduring – feat.”