Y&R Group ANZ has become the first agency to scoop the two highest awards at the 52nd International ANDY Awards held in New York.

In an unprecedented double win, Y&R New Zealand won Best in Show, affectionately known as the ‘GRANDY’, for Burger King’s ‘McWhopper’, and GPY&R Australia won the coveted Richard T. O’Reilly Award for Outstanding Public Service, known as the ‘GRANDY FOR GOOD’ for Melanoma Patients Australia’s ‘Melanoma Likes Me’ campaign.

It is the first time Y&R Group ANZ has won Best in Show at the ANDY Awards and the first time an ANZ-based group, or any network, has won both major prizes.

All of the other winners of awards can be found on the ANDYs website.

Y&R Group Regional CCO Ben Coulson said, “It’s great (and slightly surreal) to see Australia and New Zealand take out the two top gongs, especially when you consider the calibre of work from all over the world competing here tonight.

“ANDY’s is a famously tough show, they hand out very few prizes. A big thanks to our brave clients for pushing the boundaries with us, and to all the talented folk back home who worked so hard on these campaigns.”

Colleen DeCourcy, global executive creative director of Wieden + Kennedy, led the global jury to recognize the bravest, ‘most perfect’ creative work from around the world this year.

Y&R New Zealand received a cash prize of US$50,000 and the MPA Charity will be receiving a US$10,000 donation from the ANDY’s.

As the first show of the International Award season, the ANDY’s have become a predictor of what is likely to win in subsequent shows this year.