Motion Sickness wins Prestigious Global Grand Effie for Fire & Emergency NZ’s ‘You’re Cooked’
Motion Sickness has taken home one of the world’s most prestigious marketing awards – a Global Grand Effie at the Best of the Best Effie Awards – for its work on the ‘You’re Cooked’ campaign for Fire and Emergency New Zealand.
Now in market for three years, the ‘You’re Cooked’ platform continues to drive positive behaviour change across New Zealand.
Following its success on home soil, where it was awarded Gold and the coveted ‘Hardest Challenge’ at the Aotearoa Effie Awards, the campaign has now gone on to be recognised on the global stage in the Government, Institutional and Recruitment category – cementing its status as one of the most effective ideas in the world.
The Effie Awards are the global benchmark for marketing effectiveness. It honours the campaigns that not only move people emotionally, but move the needle commercially or socially – the ideas that work. To be acknowledged at this level places Motion Sickness in rare company.
‘You’re Cooked’ tackled a uniquely Kiwi problem: the high number of house fires caused by people attempting to cook while drunk. Rather than tell people what not to do, the campaign offered up a humorous but deeply practical solution – a no-heat cookbook of recipes for when you’re too cooked to cook.
Says Amanda Duncan, National Manager Communications and Engagement at Fire and Emergency New Zealand: “Seeing this campaign recognised on the global stage means so much to our team. It speaks volumes about the power of an idea that is born from real insight and delivered with creative bravery. ‘You’re Cooked’ has already had a tangible impact in communities across Aotearoa – and this award is a proud reminder that the work we’re doing here matters.”
Adds Hilary Ngan Kee, Head of Strategy at Motion Sickness: “From the start, this campaign was about cutting through — grabbing attention in a way that felt real, human, and empathetic. It proves what we believe at Motion Sickness: that bold, creative ideas can shift behaviour, and in this case genuinely make people safer. To have that recognised on a global stage is huge — for us, and for everyone who backed it.”
The win marks a historic moment for both Motion Sickness and Fire and Emergency New Zealand, proving that creativity backed by strategy – and a brave client – can change behaviour and spark global recognition.
“Evolution of Smooth” Brand Campaign Wins the Iridium as the Most Effective Campaign in the World
Effie Worldwide awarded eos as the winner of the prestigious Iridium Award, for the 2024 Global Best of the Best Effie Awards. The competition awarded their “Evolution of Smooth” brand campaign – brought to life by Mischief @ No Fixed Address – as the single most effective marketing effort in the world.
The 2024 Global Best of the Best Awards was open to Grand and Gold Effie winners from 55+ national and regional Effie Awards programs held throughout 2023, all vying for the highest honor in marketing effectiveness. The entries featured a dynamic mix of the world’s most iconic brands and bold challengers. The first round of judging narrowed the entrants to 58 Global Grand Contenders, representing 25 diverse markets and 19 industries.
Of the contenders, 12 winners emerged following a round of grand judging by a distinguished jury of senior marketing leaders. The winners hail from 8 markets and span 12 unique categories, with the highest number of awards going to entries from North America and the LATAM region.
The 2024 Global Grand Effies were awarded to (by category):
Audience: Intuit QuickBooks and Alma DDB’s “Think Ote,” with Access Brand Communications, Collectively, Critical Mass, and Initiative
Brand Content & Entertainment, Products: Mars Wrigley North America / Skittles and DDB Chicago’s “Apologize the Rainbow,” with Mediacom, Weber Shandwick US, The Mars Agency, and Picrow
Brand Content & Entertainment, Services: Fundacsión Casa Ronald McDonald Ecuador and Paradais DDB’s “The Journey,” with La Canguilera Studio, Air Music Agency, and Gran Idea
Consumer Goods & Telecom: Meta / WhatsApp and AlmapBBDO’s “WhatsApp: the Privacy Gesture”
Digital: Kellanova / Cheez-It, Leo Burnett Chicago and Starcom’s “Aged by Audio,” with Pandora Media, Weber Shandwick US, Pilot44 Labs
Government, Institutional & Recruitment: Fire and Emergency New Zealand and Motion Sickness’ “You’re Cooked,” with MBM Wellington and Kantar Public
Marketing Innovation/Business Solutions: WeCapital and DDB Mexico’s “Data Tienda”
Retail: IKEA and McCann Worldgroup Spain’s “Trapped in the 90’s,” with iProspect
Sustained Success, Product: AB InBev / Hertog Jan and The Valley BV’s “How Hertog Jan Became the #1 Beer Brand in the Netherlands,” with Osborne Pike, Hagens, DENTSU CREATIVE, and Publicis Groupe NL
Sustained Success, Services: Sydney Children’s Hospitals Foundation, Hospitals United for Sick Kids, and CHEP Network’s “A New Sause of Revenue for Children in Hospital”
Timely Opportunity: Volkswagen Brazil and Almap BBDO’s “VW 70 Years in Brazil”
Youth: eos Products and Mischief @ No Fixed Address’ “evolution of smooth” brand campaign
The Iridium
To determine the Iridium winner, a special jury was convened, chaired by Andrea Diquez, Global CEO of GUT. The jury agreed that the “Evolution of Smooth” brand campaign stood out among the 12 Global Grands, as the ultimate example of marketing effectiveness, earning the coveted Iridium Award.
“In a world that can be very conservative, it was a pretty bold idea and a pretty bold marketing program to put out there,” said Jury chair Andrea Diquez. “It had an incredible insight. It disrupted a category that had been very, very boring in the past, and the results were spectacular. At that time, it was a very innovative way of talking – a way of putting the brand within the culture and not forcing it – becoming part of the conversations and how young women were behaving. And it was just amazing to see, because a lot of brands followed suit.”
In a category long overdue for disruption, Mischief and eos set out to revolutionize the outdated and overly polite world of women’s shaving. The brand challenged norms by embracing an honest, raw, and refreshingly real approach to body hair, shifting the conversation to meet the needs and attitudes of a new generation. By anchoring itself in truth and tapping into underrepresented narratives, the campaign delivered relevance, resonance, and remarkable results.
“It was one of the most successful brand stretches from a lip balm brand into shaving,” said Tanja Grubner, Global Innovation, Brand & Communication Director for Essity, and Iridium judge. “They had tremendous impact on the business. They enlarged the category, they grew share, they dominated conversations, and they changed how women have been talking and how other brands have been advertising in that space. And we’re applauding them because many, many other brands have followed suit by speaking with consumer language.”
“Winning the Iridium Effie is an extraordinary achievement – it represents the best of the best in marketing effectiveness on a global stage,” said Traci Alford, Global CEO of Effie Worldwide. “Mischief and eos didn’t just challenge category conventions – they sparked cultural relevance, built deep emotional connection, and drove exceptional results. We are proud to honor work that is both brave and brilliantly effective.”
The Global Best of the Best Effie Awards are possible because of the strength of the Effie Awards international partner network – with 58 local and regional teams delivering expertise on the ground across 130 markets – with support this year also coming from TikTok and Ipsos.