St. John’s, NL, June 20: From Atlantic Canada all the way to the French Riviera, Extreme Group and the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission (the Commission) have taken home a Bronze Lion in the Product and Service, Public Health and Safety category for their “nail” television commercial at the 2008 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. This is the first time Extreme Group, an Atlantic Canadian agency has taken home one of these prestigious awards.  

“Injury prevention and safety awareness is a high priority for the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission,” said Leslie Galway, CEO, the Commission.  “This television commercial goes a long way to helping us achieve greater awareness about workplace safety in Newfoundland and Labrador.  We are very proud of the work we’ve done with Extreme Group and of the achievement of winning this international award.”  

The ad “nail” created a big emotional response from viewers for its nearly graphic depiction of how a seemingly harmless object can cause a serious injury if left ignored. “We are really proud of the work we’ve done with the Commission, they have been a great group to work with and we’ve always seen eye to eye in terms of our creative vision- it’s a great collaboration that’s given us winning results,” said Paul Leblanc, CEO of Extreme Group.  

"It's takes a great group of people to make things like this happen time and time again and I'm thrilled for our team and our client,” said Shawn King, vice president and creative director of Extreme Group. “It's an amazing combination that proves how important the right relationships are in this business. It's a good day in advertising." 
 

Extreme Group has been on the Cannes Lions short list several times, and has had a total of seven pieces of work in the festival as a finalist since 2004. This year, in addition to “nail” Extreme Group had another spot on the list: “ladder”, also for the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission.

The Cannes Lions received over 28,000 entries this year across ten competition sections and from countries around the world. Canadian agencies took home three Lions.   

About Extreme Group

Extreme Group creates great ideas that deliver great results. We have been taking the work seriously, but not ourselves, for 11 years. From our offices in Halifax and Toronto, our insight-based approach has resulted in record setting and award winning campaigns for clients like Aliant, Moosehead Breweries Ltd., Sherway Gardens, Agincourt Audi and the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission in Newfoundland and Labrador. 
 
About the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission

Serving over 16,000 employers and approximately 12,000 injured workers, the Commission is an employer-funded no fault insurance system that promotes safe and healthy workplaces, provides return-to-work programs and fair compensation to injured workers and their dependants. The Commission is committed to educating workers and employers about workplace injury and prevention, and to promoting a positive safety culture for the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. 
 
For more information contact:

Tara Joosse
Account Coordinator
Extreme Group
902-461-2345 (work)
902-209-0377 (cell)   
 
Deborah Inkpen
Director of Communications
Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission
709-778-1590 (p)
deborah.inkpen@whscc.nl.ca.