Washington, DC, June 14, 2001 — The U.S. Mint announced today that its Legacy 50 State Quarters Program™ advertising campaign collected eight prestigious advertising industry awards. The U.S. Mint received three Aegis Awards, three Telly Awards and two awards at the recent WorldFest–Houston International Film Festival.
“The campaign was already a complete success,” said Jay Johnson, Director of the U.S. Mint. “But to receive praise from the general public and industry experts on the Legacy campaign further compliments the U.S. Mint employees who make the 50 State Quarters Program™ and the Legacy campaign a success.”
The U.S. Mint’s 50 State Quarters advertising campaign debuted in October 2000, featuring the Legacy theme in which U.S. Mint employees promote the quarters honoring America’s states and their availability through both the U.S. Mint’s website at www.usmint.gov and through normal Federal Reserve distribution channels for circulating coinage. U.S. Mint employees were portrayed designing and producing the new quarters with a variety of traditional and cutting–edge technologies. The campaign included one 60–second spot; two 30–second spots; two 15–second spots; corresponding print advertisements; a video chronicling the production of the broadcast campaign titled “Making of Legacy”; and a specially–designed 60–second advertisement for the ABC Jumbotron screen in New York City’s Times Square district to celebrate the launch of the New York quarter.
“Our Legacy advertising campaign created a vehicle where U.S. Mint employees could speak to every American about the U.S. Mint’s legacy of craftsmanship and pride in creating our nation’s coinage,” said David Pickens, Associate Director of Numismatics and Director of Marketing.
The Aegis Awards recognized the Legacy campaign with three awards in the TV Commercial category — one for the 60–second spot and one for each of the two 30–second spots. The Aegis Awards are the video industry’s premier competition for peer recognition of outstanding video productions and non–network TV commercials. Directors and producers judge Aegis Award entries based on a complex formula that grades various elements of the production, such as shooting, editing and use of music. The composite score is then calculated taking the average of all the judges’ assessments.
The 21st annual Telly Awards lauded the U.S. Mint’s Legacy campaign by awarding the 60–second Legacy spot, the “Making of Legacy” video and the New York Quarter Jumbotron spot as winners. The Legacy advertisement prevailed in the regional TV and multi–market cable category; the “Making of Legacy” in the non–broadcast film/video category; and the New York Jumbotron in the miscellaneous category. Founded in 1980, the Tellys showcase and give recognition to outstanding non–network, cable, film and production work.
The WorldFest–Houston International Film Festival awarded two entries from the Legacy campaign. “The Making of Legacy” video won in the public relations category and the New York quarter Jumbotron spot took the honors in the local commercial category. Launched in 1968, WorldFest–Houston is dedicated to the independent feature and short film. Representative winners at past WorldFest festivals include the Coen brothers, Jonathan Demme, Brian De Palma, John Frankenheimer, George Lucas, Ridley Scott, Steven Spielberg, Oliver Stone and Robert Townsend.
Launched in 1999, the U.S. Mint’s 50 State Quarters Program™ is a 10–year initiative honoring each of the Nation’s states in the order that they joined the Union or ratified the Constitution. Each quarter is produced for only about 10 weeks, never to be produced again. U.S. Mint research shows that well over 125 million Americans are collecting the 50 State Quarters.
Washington Square Productions and Deno Seder Productions produced the television commercials in association with Hill and Knowlton’s Washington, D.C. office. More information about the 50 State Quarters Program™ is available through the U.S. Mint’s Web site at www.usmint.gov www.usmint.gov or by calling 1–800–USA MINT.