Shamir Insight has received a silver Davey Award for its 2012 advertising campaign. The ad campaign, titled “Obviously, Those Aren’t Shamir Lenses,” is a continuation of Shamir’s 2011 campaign and is geared primarily toward opticians. The campaign depicts funny situations and mishaps which can occur when trusting your vision to anything but Shamir’s premium line of progressives.
The 2012 campaign has showcased various situations illustrated by award-winning artist James Bennett. The ads depict embarrassing situations, including a tree trimmer cutting a power line, a man trying to take a skunk for a walk, and a woman driving through wet cement. Accompanying the images are captions describing how much better life could be if only the person was wearing Shamir progressive lenses.
“The ‘Obviously, Those Aren’t Shamir Lenses’ campaign has allowed us to explore dozens of funny and embarrassing vision-related mishaps. Like our past campaigns, this one has allowed us to continue to use ‘out of the box’ imagery and get readers to stop and examine the ads. We received so much positive feedback regarding this campaign in 2011 that we decided to continue the campaign throughout 2012 as well,” says Matt Lytle, Shamir’s vice president of sales and marketing.
The Davey is the first major awards competition specifically for smaller firms. It is sanctioned and judged by the International Academy of the Visual Arts, whose members include executives from organizations such as Condè Nast, Michael Kors Inc., Disney, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Microsoft, HBO, Monster.com, MTV, Polo Ralph Lauren, Sotheby’s Institute of Art, Victoria’s Secret, Howcast and many more. Shamir’s advertising campaigns have previously won two silver Davey awards.
HELLO, DALAI (LAMA, THAT IS)
Wholesale lab US Optical manufactured three pairs of spectacle lenses for the Dalai Lama’s eyeglasses while the Dalai Lama was in Syracuse, N.Y., for a panel discussion and concert at Syracuse University on Oct. 8-9. In a note to the Dalai Lama, the owners of US Optical, Ralph, Ron and Robert Cotran wrote, “It was an honor for US Optical to manufacture prescription lenses for your holiness.”
A customer of US Optical, optician Jim Morrison of Renken & Morrison Opticians recommended the East Syracuse-based lab. While in the Syracuse area, the Dalai Lama also had an eye examination from Fayetteville-based ophthalmologist Dr. William
M. Tucker.
—Andrew Karp
