Ad Team at UA Wins District Competition, Heads to Nationals

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama’s student advertising team was named the district winner in the American Advertising Federation National Student Advertising Competition held in Baton Rouge, La.

The Ad Team won the championship based on its “LessThanUThink” advertising campaign designed for this year’s client, the Century Council, a non-profit organization fighting to eliminate drunk driving and underage drinking and which promotes responsible decision making regarding beverage alcohol.

“The students attacked this project with passion and determination. They not only created an award-winning campaign but they went the extra mile to test it during a three-day implementation on the UA campus,” said Teri Henley, Ad Team adviser and an advertising and public relations instructor in the College of Communication and Information Sciences.

The UA team defeated six other university teams and now advances to the national competition in Washington, D.C. June 3-7. Considered the premier student advertising competition in the nation, the NSAC has become the proving grounds for 80,000 students who have participated and an imperative for an increasing number of ad industry recruiters seeking new talent.

As the winner of the district competition, the team received the “Charlie Malone Scholarship,” a $1,000 prize from the Seventh District American Advertising Federation to assist in meeting expenses related to sending the 16 member team to nationals.

This is the sixth time UA has advanced to the finals of the NSAC. UA last attended in 2000 and won the national title that year.

The 2009 UA Ad Team members:

Jason Brandt, Dallas, Texas
David Calhoun, Jackson, Miss.
Jessica Charlton, Prattville
Allison Duke, Nashville, Tenn.
Austin During, Chelsea
Kevin Kessler, Mountain Brook
Sarah King, Richmond, Va.
Amanda Kirkland, Leeds
Monica McCall, Tuscaloosa
Adam McCormick, Winston-Salem, N.C.
Emily Roberson, Madison
Carly Jane Rullman, Charlottesville, Va.
Tanya Twerdowsky, Northport
Morgan Welch, Luverne
Matt Williams, Tuscaloosa