Top television ads shortlisted for awards

A series of advertisements for Japanese carmaker Honda have been nominated in a top design competition.

Among the most highly praised is the Honda Accord “Cog” advert, in which a small cog sets off a chain reaction of moving car parts.

Judges in the Designers and Art Directors (D&AD) competition gave it a “silver” nomination under a number of headings, including television commercial over 60 seconds, TV campaign and cinema commercial.

It was also praised for its direction and “sound design”.

Two other Honda adverts have also gained a silver nomination in the competition, known as the Oscars of the advertising and design world.

An advert entitled “Everyday”, which shows close-up shots of numerous objects throughout the working day, was named in the categories for television and commercial advertising and television and cinema advertising crafts.

An advert from Honda called “Cense” was also highly praised.

Judges have named 137 silver nominations in 27 categories from almost 14,000 entries.

They will announce winners of the silver awards – known as the Yellow Pencils - on May 26.

At the same time, it will be revealed whether any of the nominees have achieved the highest accolade – a gold award.

An Adidas advert starring England soccer captain David Beckham and rugby World Cup hero Jonny Wilkinson also gained silver nominations.

The commercial features Beckham teaching Wilkinson how to perform one of his trademark free kicks followed by Wilkinson showing Beckham how to kick his style of conversion.

The “Kicking It” advert for sportswear manufacturer Adidas has been nominated in the category for TV and cinema advertising crafts for its direction and editing.

Michael Hockney, chief executive of D&AD, a UK-based charity that works on behalf of the international designing and advertising communities, said: “The Honda Cog advert is great creatively but defining it is very hard.

“It is about unravelling a car, literally, but it is also about absolutely wonderful art direction, a beautiful soundtrack and, above all, a great idea.”

Mr Hockney explained there were no guarantees of how many silver awards the judges would give out – or gold awards, if any.

Describing a potential gold award winner, he said: “It has to be something that has broken new ground – something that is highly innovative.”

The awards are part of the D&AD congress, a three-week event taking place at the former Billingsgate fish market on the banks of the River Thames in central London.