The American Advertising Awards
The American Advertising Awards is the advertising industry’s largest and most representative competition, attracting over 40,000 entries every year in local AAF Club (Ad Club) competitions. The mission of the American Advertising Awards competition is to recognize and reward the creative spirit of excellence in the art of advertising.
More About The Competition
The AAF-SD American Advertising Awards competition is the first of a three-tiered national competition conducted annually by the American Advertising Federation alongside 200+ other clubs around the country. Entries that receive the coveted Gold ADDY for being recognized as the highest level of creative excellence are automatically forwarded onto the next tier of the competition. Other entries deserving of recognition for their outstanding level of excellence are awarded a Silver ADDY, and also have the opportunity to be forwarded on to the next level of competition.
Entry into the American Advertising Awards supports our entire industry; the AAF and its local and district memberships use the proceeds to enhance advertising through programs such as internships, advocacy groups and advertising education.
How to Submit an Entry
Follow the “submit an entry” link below to submit to for our local competition. You will be directed to the competition site to register as an entrant. Review the category list in this document or on these websites to find where your work should compete, and follow the simple drop-down menus to enter your information. Make sure you credit the members of your creative team so that they will be recognized properly in press releases and other American Advertising Federation winner publications. Trophies are personalized based on information submitted at the time of entry. Please make sure all fields are accurate. Submission of entries acknowledges the right of the American Advertising Federation to use them for publication, exhibition, and marketing of the American Advertising Awards competition and show.
The Silver Medal Award
The Silver Medal Award is awarded yearly to an individual that has achieved success in advertising, media, or advertising services that have demonstrated consistent, high original thinking in their field, worked to elevate the standards of the advertising profession and been involved in civic, religious, or other groups dedicated to human or social welfare.
The Creative Legacy Award
The Creative Legacy Award winner is awarded yearly to a nominee (s) that have been a creative leader in advertising design, art direction, photography, copywriting, creative direction, broadcast production, or cinematography with an extensive body of exceptional creative work. They have had a successful career in advertising agency creative, graphic design firms, marketing departments, media, or advertising services, and be viewed as a mentor or inspiration to co-workers. The nominee should have demonstrated a commitment to their work throughout their extensive career, had a local impact on the advertising industry in South Dakota, and pushed themselves and others to greatness, elevating the advertising community through their efforts.
The 60th Annual Award Show Judges
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EVP, Director of Creative Development at Swanson Russell
Lisa is an award-winning creative leader with more than 15 years of experience shaping ideas and differentiated experiences. She leads large, multidisciplinary teams and has spearheaded work for global brands such as Arctic Cat, Walls Outdoor Goods, E-Z-GO and Irish Setter. Recognized for fearless thinking and strategic clarity, Lisa champions creative differentiation, curious innovation and powerful storytelling.
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Founder/Chief Creative Officer Williams Creative Group Chicago
Lewis Williams is an accomplished Creative Director and Brand Storyteller with more than three decades of Total Market and Multicultural marketing experience. He has held senior creative leadership roles at two of Chicago’s most iconic agencies—Leo Burnett and Burrell Communications, where he served as Chief Creative Officer—and most recently expanded his impact as EVP, Head of Brand Impact at global PR firm Weber Shandwick.
Throughout his career, Lewis has partnered with CMOs from some of the world’s most recognizable brands, including Toyota, McDonald’s, Walt Disney World, Coca-Cola, Google, American Airlines, and Procter & Gamble, delivering strategically driven, award-winning creative that builds lasting emotional connections with consumers.
His work has been recognized by virtually every major creative award show, and his perspective is trusted industry wide. Lewis serves on the Ad Council Creative Review Committee, has been a Cannes Lions juror, including Glass: The Lion for Change and is a Board Director for the Chicago Ad Federation and a member of Ad Legends AI, the world’s first functional AI-powered advertising platform.
He is also a committed mentor, educator and host of the OGs AND AUNTIES podcast, celebrating the legends who shaped advertising and culture.
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Senior Vice President, Group Creative Director at Digitas
Hi, I’m David Mackereth. People call me Dmack, because there are too many Davids. I don’t like writing bios in 3rd person, so you get to read this like I’m speaking these words directly to your face. I’ve been making stupid fun things for brands for 2 decades at agencies in Minneapolis, Detroit and New York. These stupid fun things have shown up everywhere in culture from Fast Company to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. I even have a thing on permanent display at the prestigious SPAM Museum, yes a museum for canned meat, it’s real. Hopefully you feel like you know me a bit now after reading this bio, feel free to linkedin stalk me if you’d like to know more.
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Founder & Creative Director, Socially Awkward Agency
Kristina Carden is a Creative Director and Brand Designer with 22+ years of experience in design, user experience, and creative strategy. She specializes in transforming complex ideas into clear, engaging experiences through thoughtful storytelling, strong visual systems, and human-centered design.
Kristina has designed, directed, consulted, and mentored across multidisciplinary teams, bringing structure and clarity to ambiguous ideas and elevating them from concept to execution. Formerly the Creative Director at Mindspace, she helped create innovative learning, UX, and gamified experiences for global organizations.
In addition to experience design, she brings deep expertise in branding—building and evolving brand identities that align vision, message, and experience across touchpoints.
Her work includes collaborations with Starbucks, Google, NBPA, IHG, Lagunitas, Hyatt, Showtime, Mercer, TNT, LifeLock, GE, Deloitte, FedEx, Cisco, PepsiCo, Frito-Lay, Paramount, Twitter, ASU, Cedars-Sinai, American Heart Association, Shutterfly, Old Navy, Carter’s, Avnet, Sage, and more.
Frequently Asked Questions
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The American Advertising Awards are the largest and most representative advertising competition. Each year it attracts more than 40,000 entries in local American Advertisign Federatation (AAF) competitions, including AAF South Dakota.
The competition includes both professional and student work, recognizing and rewarding creative excellence in the art of advertising.
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Awards given out include Gold ADDYs, Silver ADDYs, Judge's Choice, and Best of Show. A Gold ADDY is recognition of the highest level of creative excellence and is judged to be superior to all other entries in the category. Entries that are also considered outstanding and worthy of recognition receive a Silver ADDY.
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The number of awards given each year is determined by the judges and the AAF South Dakota board. A percentage of the highest scoring entries receive Gold and Silver ADDYs. Each judge, usually 3 in our local competition, selects an entry to receive their Judge's Choice Award. The judges collectively choose one entry for Best of Show.
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The Gold winners are automatically forwarded on to the District level competition. Silver winners may choose to pay a forward fee to send their entry to the next level. District Gold winners are then forwarded on to compete at the National level.
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Entering the American Advertising Awards competition supports our entire industry. The AAF and its local and district affiliates use the proceeds to enhance advertising through programs such as public service, internships, advocacy groups, advertising education, and consumer awareness.
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The American Advertising Awards has a student division of the competition that runs alongside the professional competition to recognize excellence at the student level. To see student eligibility requirements, please see the AAA Student Division Rules and Categories on this website.
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National winning entries may receive the following:
Finalist certificate—great for resumés and portfolios
Prestigious Student American Advertising Award for all National Gold and Silver ADDY Award winners
$1,000 cash prize for national Best of Show winner
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