American Express "Animals" earns the Emmy for Outstanding Commercial

Congratulations to American Express, Ogilvy & Mather/N.Y. and Hungry Man director Bryan Buckley, who came away last week with the Outstanding Commercial honor from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences at the 59th Annual Creative Arts Emmys, for the "Animals" spot starring Ellen DeGeneres and an ensemble of critter thespians.

The black and white comedy spot, which illustrates DeGeneres' lifelong dream to work with animals, bested six other contenders: Cingular's "Battle," directed by Alison Maclean of Park Pictures; the Traktor-directed Pepsi "Pinball" and GE "Jar," all out of BBDO; Coca-Cola's "Happiness Factory" out of Wieden + Kennedy/Amsterdam and directed by Psyop; Arnold/Crispin's "Singing Cowboy," directed by MJZ's Nicolai Fuglsig, and Fallon/Minneapolis' "Snowball" for Travelers, shot by Dante Ariola, also of MJZ. This was the 11th year the Academy recognized excellence in the commercials category. The winners were announced last week at the Shrine Auditorium in L.A. at a ceremony that was also broadcast this past Saturday, September 15, on the E! Network.