D&AD Pencils stolen from agencies worldwide

Agencies across the world had their D&AD Pencils stolen as part of an elaborate stunt organised by D&AD itself, alongside agency Lucky Generals. The campaign looked to prove how valuable the awards are to people, and a video documenting the “heist” and the reactions to it has been unveiled.

“By capturing the passion (and colourful language) that a missing D&AD Pencil evokes, [we] wanted to remind people of all the hard graft that goes into winning each award and why striving for creative excellence is still so important,” says D&AD.

Agencies involved include Grey London, BBH and OgilvyOne. Pencils were stolen on Monday 11 January and returned four days later with “an explanation that the stunt had been designed to dramatise the uniquely precious nature of the awards,” says D&AD.

Tim Lindsay, D&AD CEO, says: “The heist was a spectacular piece of planning and was excellently executed but despite the excitement of seeing the reactions on social media, it was never really about taking the pencils. What we set out to do from the start, was to capture the reactions of people as their pencils were returned, reminding them of a very personal achievement, and I think that this film illustrates this perfectly.”

Visit here for more information on the heist.