Inside the Jury Room: What Makes the US Finalists Immortal Contenders?

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Last week’s US jury day, held in partnership with Chelsea Pictures, marked the final round of local judging for The Immortal Awards 2025. In the session, held in person at Whitehouse Post’s New York office, the jurors whittled down a shortlist of 35 projects and decided that six of the campaigns would be put forward to the North American round of judging as US Finalists.

The regional judging will then decide which of the US and Canadian Finalists will be celebrated as North American Finalists, and subsequently go on to compete at the global round of judging on December 3rd, held in partnership with JSM Music.

This year’s US jury was comprised of Brynna Aylward, CCO at adam&eveDDB US; Danilo Boer, global creative partner at FCB; Tim Gordon, CCO at Zulu Alpha Kilo New York; Sam Gunn, partner and editor at Whitehouse Post; Julia Lafferty, head of production at 72andSunny New York; Meghan Lang, SVP global advertising at Company 3; Lisa Mehling, owner at Chelsea Pictures; Tom Murphy, North American CCO at VML; Andrea Ogunbadejo, president at Eva Nosidam; and Sharon Cha, producer at JSM Music.

Watch some of the jurors reflect on their experience here:

The projects the jury selected as Immortal Awards US Finalists were:

- Nutter Butter - ‘Nutter Butter, You Good?’
- Uber One – ‘Cox Goes to College’
- Google – ‘Dream Job’
- Second Nurture - ‘18 Months’
- Rakish Entertainment, Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Chicago Hearing Society – ‘Caption with Intention’
- Ziploc – ‘Preserved Promos’

And here are some insights the jurors shared regarding their decisions:

Nutter Butter - ‘Nutter Butter, You Good?’

Andrea Ogunbadejo, president at Eva Nosidam

“What I found fascinating about ‘Nutter Butter, You Good?’ is what it says about where the industry is going: organic social is how you win – by really focusing on making content that gets views and understanding culture and your audience. On first view, a lot of people don’t get this work or say it’s not for them, but this is where the internet is – and you have to go where your audience is. Doing this with a brand that hasn’t been in the public consciousness for a long time is especially incredible and breakthrough – it’s Immortal in that way.”

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Brynna Aylward, CCO at adam&eveDDB US

“Nutter Butter was so important for us to include because it’s such a unique perspective, when it comes to the social space. Personally, I’m not the target, and I don’t ‘get’ a lot of the things Nutter Butter is doing. That said, it’s made such a huge impact with the target audience, and it was one of the first brands to really do this unhinged, totally out-there and of-the-internet content on TikTok. So it deserves to be recognised and awarded, and I’m glad the jury saw that too.”

Uber One – ‘Cox Goes to College’

​Brynna Aylward, CCO at adam&eveDDB US

"Uber One was a cut above, when it comes to more traditional film advertising. It brings a sense of humour that’s so specific to the US in a beautiful way. Everyone felt that. It’s a film I and everyone else had seen before, but the whole room was still laughing as if it were the first time, despite literally seeing those jokes before. That resonance, and the fact it’s representative of humour in the US, meant it felt good to include it as a US Finalist.”

Sam Gunn, partner and editor at Whitehouse Post

“Uber One is classic advertising and classic storytelling. It has a brilliant cast, and it felt like the script was written for Brian Cox – which I love. The casting is well thought through. For the brand, it integrates the product perfectly – not necessarily seamlessly, as it’s sometimes in your face, but that’s a good thing. It’s just classic filmmaking. Uber Eats’ work has just gotten better and better, and I can’t wait to see what they do next as a result of this.

"It makes me smile, and there’s a lot of stuff out there that just washes past you. So to make people stop, smile and laugh – proper belly laugh – at an ad, is really important because that’s what you remember. As a brand, that’s what you need your audience to take away.”

Google – ‘Dream Job’

Danilo Boer, global creative partner at FCB

“I really connected with ‘Dream Job’, not only because I’m a dad of three girls and the story follows a dad and his daughter, but because for the first time in so long they transformed AI – which at that point, people were very scared of, and some still are – into something you could empathise with. They turned it into something that was there for you, not replacing you. That was powerful for me. I could see AI in a way that wasn’t scary, but meaningful and positive in my life.”

Meghan Lang, SVP global advertising at Company 3

“The Google film was controversial but hit so many notes, in terms of tugging on your emotional heartstrings and connecting with people. Even if you’re not a parent, that film will speak to you. It’s very of-the-moment with how it ties in the technology, and makes it so approachable in a way that even my 75-year-old parents would be able to connect with it and understand how to use AI in this way. I don’t use AI in my daily life, as many of us do, but even for me, it was interesting and felt easy and obvious from a filmmaking perspective.”

Second Nurture - ‘18 Months’

Lisa Mehling, owner at Chelsea Pictures

“‘18 Months’ brought to life a story that I was familiar with, as a New Yorker. In the jury room, we talked about the choice of animation versus using live action, and how it allowed them to go to a different level of emotional engagement. The excellence in animation really connects the viewer and underscores the importance of the organisation’s mission.

"Animation, like any craft, is something that, when done well, carries you across the world. The choice in animation [style] and the craftspeople they worked with really took it from an interesting story to a story that really grabbed your heart and made you want to learn more and stay engaged.

"When you leave craft out of a strategy or even a revolutionary tech innovation, it falls flat. I always want to see the greatest choices made in all areas – but craft shows the level of excellence that our industry has. I champion any brand or organisation that taps into the skillset of our industry and uses it to its maximum. Over and over again, it shows how much that [craft] matters.”

Rakish Entertainment, Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Chicago Hearing Society – ‘Caption with Intention’

​Brynna Aylward, CCO at adam&eveDDB US

“In my personal opinion, ‘Caption with Intention’ is definitely in the running to be Immortal because it’s such an innovation, it’s so breakthrough, and it’s so different. I was really grateful and happy to see some activation-type ideas that were included in the work, because when we discuss ‘Immortal’ work, it’s easy to lean more towards beautifully crafted films. They seem to have that weight to them because of that higher production value, in a more traditional sense. But showcasing things like activations and social work really shows the breadth of what the US industry is doing.”

Ziploc – ‘Preserved Promos’

Danilo Boer, global creative partner at FCB

“The Ziploc project turns commerce into brand building. It takes something very pragmatic and builds brand love around it while still selling product. Ultimately, that’s what we’re trying to do at all times – our job is to sell product and make people fall in love with brands, so I really liked ‘Preserved Promos’.”

​For more information on the Finalists, click here.