Best of Show Awarded to Saint Elmo’s Germany and Charles & Charlotte for “Sheep Happens”
Germany Leads with Five Grand Awards; USA Earns Three; Japan, the Philippines, and the UK Honored with One
New York Festivals Advertising Awards (NYFA) announced the 2026 award winners.
Led by Andrea Diquez, Global CEO of Gut, the Executive Jury brought together accomplished industry leaders from around the globe to evaluate the work advanced by the 2026 Shortlist Jury. Following extensive deliberation, the panel selected the 2026 award winners, recognizing the year’s most innovative, effective, and impactful creative work across all categories.
The Executive Jury awarded one Best of Show Tower, 11 Grand Towers, 51 Gold Towers, 48 Silver Towers, and 66 Bronze Towers.
To view the winning campaigns, visit the 2026 Advertising Awards Winners Showcase.
The 2026 NYF Advertising Awards attracted entries from 45 countries worldwide, reflecting the competition’s continued global reach and the diverse creative perspectives shaping today’s advertising landscape.
Chosen by the Executive Jury from among the year’s most celebrated work, the Best of Show Award recognizes a single campaign that stands apart for its creativity, innovation, and impact. As New York Festivals’ highest honor, it celebrates work that sets a new benchmark for excellence across the industry.
2026 Best of Show Award
Sheep Happens — PENNY — Saint Elmo’s Germany and Charles & Charlotte — ACTIVATION & ENGAGEMENT: Best Use: Real-Time Response
Saint Elmo’s Germany and Charles & Charlotte earned the 2026 Best of Show Award for Sheep Happens, created for PENNY, one of Germany’s most familiar discount supermarket chains. The campaign began when more than 50 sheep unexpectedly entered a PENNY store in Burgsinn, a rural town in Bavaria.
Rather than controlling the narrative, PENNY responded in real time with humor, simply stating, “Sheep happens.” The incident quickly evolved into a participatory cultural moment as audiences engaged with the story, helped shape its direction, and transformed the sheep into unlikely protagonists. What followed became a widely shared phenomenon, generating creator participation, community engagement, and global media attention. The campaign ultimately delivered €30 million in earned media, a 13% revenue increase in Burgsinn, a 6% revenue increase across Germany, and a 69% rise in brand popularity.
“Thank you New York Festivals for awarding our Sheep Happens campaign the Best of Show Award in Activation & Engagement.
When 50 Sheep accidentally walked into a PENNY supermarket and created chaos, your first thought might be …Sh*t… What am I going to do with that? Don’t talk about it all or make one post and forget about it?
Instead, we had clients who have had the courage to turn this unexpected incident into the fastest at the same time most extensive activation campaign PENNY has ever launched.
Our achievement was not creating the moment, it was more recognizing it, embracing it and then turn it into something bigger, thank you for recognizing that.”—Mathias Harbeck, Chief Creative Officer and Partner at Saint Elmo’s Germany
2026 Grand Awards
These exceptional campaigns achieved the highest scores in their respective categories as determined by the Executive Jury and were honored with the distinguished New York Festivals Grand Award Tower.
ACTIVATION & ENGAGEMENT: Best Use: Real-Time Response
Sheep happens — PENNY — Saint Elmo’s Germany / Charles & Charlotte — Germany
BAKED IN NY: New York or Everywhere: NYC State of Mind
Never Become a Former New Yorker — StreetEasy — Mother — USA
DIGITAL/MOBILE: Mobile Platform: Social/Environmental Good: NGO/PSA
Bedtime Donations — Royal Society for Blind Children — INNOCEAN Berlin — Germany
FILM: Products & Services: Retail Stores
No Project without Drama — HORNBACH — HeimatTBWA Berlin GmbH — Germany
FILM CRAFT: Art Direction/Production Design
No Project without Drama — HORNBACH — HeimatTBWA Berlin GmbH — Germany
THE FUTURE NOW: BEST USE: Innovation
Radio Time Machine — NICHII GAKKAN CO., LTD. — TBWA HAKUHODO — Japan
NYF’IN FUNNY: TVC / Film & Video
Get Almost Almost Anything — Uber Eats — Special US — USA
OUTDOOR: Best Use: Ambient
McDelivery® Speed Camera Ads — McDonald’s — Scholz & Friends — Germany
PUBLIC RELATIONS: Best Use: Crisis & Issue Management PR
The KitKat Heist — KitKat — Burson & VML London — UK
PURPOSE: Physical Well-Being
Beat Cancer Off — Fuck Cancer — VML New York — USA
SOCIAL MEDIA & INFLUENCER: Best Use: Storytelling
Boysen Color Stories — Boysen — TBWA\SMP — Philippines
Several of the categories introduced for the 2026 competition resonated strongly with entrants and jurors alike. Among the new category groups, Baked in New York, Creative Marketing Strategy/ Effectiveness, and Sports each produced multiple Gold-winning entries, reflecting the industry’s growing focus innovation, effectiveness, and culturally resonant storytelling.
View the NYF Advertising Awards 2026 winners.
Go behind the scenes with the 2026 NYF Advertising Awards Executive Jury in the 2026 Winners Reel featuring their perspectives on the ideas, innovation, and creative excellence behind this year’s winning work.
The New York Festivals Advertising Awards competition receives entries from seven continents and is judged by an international jury of more than 350 members of NYF’s Executive Jury, Specialty Executive Juries, and Shortlist Jury. New York Festivals jury panels collectively cast their votes to select the year’s trophy-winning work.
The New York Festivals Advertising Awards will announce the 2026 Special Industry Awards on Wednesday, June 17th.