Not Hitting the Spot : Performance of L.A. Advertising Judged as Mixed

What is the state of Los Angeles advertising?

Based on comments of some of the judges in the Los Angeles Ad Club’s annual Belding Awards, which honors the best work by Southern California agencies, performance has been mixed.

The judges, a panel of 12 advertising professionals and academics, said some ads were exceptional--they lauded work for Nissan Motor Corp. and Arco Products Co.’s AM-PM Minimart stores. But judges declined to hand out awards in 26 of 60 categories, including the high-profile subject of fast-food.

“The good stuff was great and the bad stuff was really bad,” said Harry Cocciolo, a creative director at Goodby Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco. “That’s how it tended to run.”

“Some of the stuff, we were amazed people had entered it, it was so bad,” said Jim Hagar, creative director at Riddell Advertising & Design in Jackson Hole, Wyo.

Judges said the ads submitted reflect a change in the Los Angeles ad business. With the exception of Santa Monica-based Ground Zero (which won a Belding for its SegaSoft ads), boutique agencies known for imaginative advertising have closed.

But judges said Eastern agencies that have recently opened offices in Los Angeles might raise the level of creativity. Martin Agency of Richmond, Va., and Deutsch Inc. of New York, which recently won the Bank of America account, are known for imaginative work.

“I think it’s on an upswing,” Diane Cook-Tench, a judge and professor at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Ad Center, said of Los Angeles advertising.

Here is a summary of the judges’ remarks:

* Fast-food advertising, a big business for Los Angeles, was terrible. Judges were especially turned off by loud price promotion spots for Taco Bell Corp. Evidently, Taco Bell wasn’t happy with the spots either. It replaced its agency, the Costa Mesa office of Bozell Worldwide, last month.

* With few exceptions, judges were disappointed with radio ads. Some judges declared radio spots the worst of the bunch--a sad commentary in a city where commuters spend hours daily in their cars.

* Judges said much of the automobile advertising they saw was predictable. Some judges said they were tired of the sophisticated tone of ads for Lexus luxury cars from Team One of El Segundo.

But judges had high praise for some car advertising--the Nissan spots from the Venice office of TBWA Chiat/Day and work from Santa Monica-based Rubin Postaer & Associates for Honda. The costly Nissan campaign captured the car category and one spot from it--one showing Barbie and Ken look-alikes and a car that Nissan has all but discontinued--won the prize for the best overall ad.

(As previously reported, Nissan dealers have complained the campaign isn’t helping to sell cars. It is being modified to include conventional ads that, in automotive parlance, “show the sheet metal.”)

Besides those ads, judges lauded a series of commercials for Arco’s AM-PM stores from Rubin Postaer in which junk food addicts give in to temptation and load up on snacks; the campaign also won an award.

“Those spots did not cost a heck of a lot, but the talent and writing was there,” said Vince Engle, a creative director at Wieden & Kennedy in Portland.

Judges awarded prizes to 71 of the 1,262 entries from agencies and commercial production companies. Awards are coveted because they are the first step in the American Advertising Federation’s national competition.

Making Waves: An Oakland-based cruise tour operator that caters to lesbians is accusing ABC of hypocrisy for refusing to air its ad during the upcoming episode of “Ellen” in which the main character reveals she is gay.

Olivia Cruises and Resorts says the network rejected a script for a 15-second commercial showing two women displaying affection aboard an ocean liner. ABC, a unit of Burbank-based Walt Disney Co., sent Olivia a fax that said in part, “It is our position that discussion of same-sex lifestyles is more appropriate in programming.”

“They are being hypocrites,” Olivia President Judy Dlugacz said. She said the company hopes to place an ad that will show women with women either hugging or kissing on ABC affiliates. The ad is being filmed this weekend.

ABC said it reviews ads individually and has no policy against depicting gay couples in ads. It wouldn’t comment on its reasons for rejecting the proposed Olivia ad.

Denise Gellene can be reached at denise.gellene@latimes.com or via fax at (213) 237-7837.