Marvelous

Indeed. Indeed! INDEED! Well, it certainly has been some time since we've received a submission at this level. If I can have but a moment to catch my breath before I describe this little piece of...heavenly beauty. Ok. Here goes. The artist's name is Steve Weisz. Then the headline is: "Make a Weisz MOVE." I mean, c'mon? How much better can your puns get? Obviously, they can't. Steve, I am actually writing this on my Palm P.D.A. (Personal Digital Assistant) as I run down the street (half-dressed!!) to the post office to send you your much deserved Gold Brush, A.S.A.P.!

No Thank You Very Much

If there's one thing we love at Keepin' It Realtor, it's Larry the Cable Guy. He puts us into stitches. But there's one thing we hold even more dearly, and that my friends is...originality. Sorry, Minister Realty, but where we eat our brunch, "GIT-R-DONE" is called borrowed interest and we don't think there's anything "interesting" about that.

This is not even Merit worthy.

Big thanks to Geordie for sending this in so that other contributers can understand exactly where we set the bar.

Strategic

Who among us can look at Marci Koifman's bus bench ad and not immediately think of Boris Spassky's Sicilian Defense against Bobby Fischer in Game 4 of the 1972 World Chess Championship? I know I can't. Not only does Marci's ad make ever-so-subtle references to The Match of the Century, it also happens to be pretty darn persuasive.  "Selling your home with a strategy for success!" Indeed! "It's your move!" It sure is! The visual of the pawn in hand (a la Spassky) AND the chess board lawn...Checkmate, Marci! Enjoy your new Gold Paint Brush.

Jawdropping

There are times in your life where it really does seem as if the stars are aligned. For instance, I found both of these ads on the same day! Notice any similarities (beyond all the handsome looking people?)? They both have a little headline fun with the word "reality." But before we start passing around the Gold Paint Brushes around here, let's take that important second look. The Queens, nice as they might be, fail to seal the deal. Making "realty into a reality" is very, very memorable. No question. But unfortunately for the ladies, they've run into the legendary Scott Stren. He doesn't just settle for "reality." Scott drops the "i"-bomb (with helpful arrow) into "realty" to make sure his audience truly understands the pun. Genius. And gold.

Nice try, ladies. Bronze for each of you.

Devine

Lookout Darryl King, there's some new royalty in the kingdom and she's kickin' some real estate advertising a&@! Sorry about the sailor talk, but I get pretty worked up over great ideas and this is a great idea if I've ever seen one. Rose's play on words takes the art form itself to a whole new level. It's like we're the cats and Rose is the ball of string. But that ball of string keeps moving and moving around. In other words, she's playing with us. And man, are we ever enjoying the game. Too much!

Silver Paint Brush.

Clever

Slowly she creeps...inch by inch...working her way through the shadows...always watching her prey...always looking...for great prices on great homes.

It's the one, the only, Marci Tanzer AKA The House Huntre$$!

Now normally our policy is: no pun = no fun. But there are exceptions. In this case, Marci knew we were looking for that zany, unforgettable pun and instead she hit us where it hurts with a unique nickname AND the double money signs. Can you say "Wow"? We sure can. It just comes out sounding like, "Silver Paint Brush."

Awesome

No, no, Asim. You are awesome. 

A Bronze Paint Brush is already being couriered to your office, post haste!

Astounding

You may have noticed a HI-larious trend in Super Bowl advertising over the last ten years: talking animals. Irresistible. Well, obviously Brad J. Lamb has decided to jump on this clever little bandwagon and ride it right to the top of the condo sales mountain of success! Not only does he put a human head on a lamb, but it also happens to be HIS HEAD and his last name is LAMB! Get it? We sure do, Brad. And this touchdown of an ad gets you a Gold Paint Brush.

Big thanks to Leilah for submitting this piece of art.

Inspired

A cold, harsh reality for other creatives in the real estate field:

There is only one Bill Thom. Sorry, but you'll never come close.

Once you can get over that, it's best just to stand back and witness the master at work. The visual on the bus bench ad? It screams, "110% success." Clearly, Bill not only owns a cellular telephone but he's too busy and successful to lower it for the photo. The headline? Well, obviously Bill refused to hold back on this one. An unexpected "slashed out" maneuver that then ties back to a well-placed pun...oh my!

It's been said that Bill might understand the value of branding better than anyone in the business. That seems apparent with the deliberate extension of the "sole-d" device from the bus bench to the For Sale sign. And if people never see the bench and then have no idea what "sole-d" means? Too bad. Because this is Bill Thom's world, and we're just living in it. 

This integrated campaign has earned the coveted Titanium Paint Brush.

Glorious

If you looked up the word "dedication" in the dictionary, you would probably find a picture of Daryl King. He's spent the last 17 years (wow!) trying to win his first major creative award. His previous headlines we're solid, but not quite Pant Brush-quality. Examples include, "I'm the Top Leader of Real Estate," "The President of Real Estate," and "The House Führer." Well, you've finally made it, Your Highness. Enjoy your Bronze Paint Brush.

Transcendent

Proudly standing at the crossroads of Buy St. and Sell Rd. (genius!), Ruth could have stopped right there and we would have said, "Congratulations, enjoy your Silver Paint Brush." But that's not Ruth, now is it? She dug deep into her bag of tricks and pulled out a bazooka shot of a pun with "House-SOLD." Ka-BLAM! It's a Gold!!

Sublime

When people are looking for new homes, there are several things they want nearby: good schools, public transportation, and, of course, a great wings place. Everyone knows this, but John's the first guy to actually put it into an ad. And for that he receives a Gold Paint Brush.

Magnificent

Looks like someone also has a PhD in brilliant advertising.

Gold Paint Brush!

Oops!

Anna has been at the top of the heap for years. Her bus bench ads are legendary within the real estate world and in mass advertising. That's why it came as somewhat of a surprise for me to see this ad. The headline reads, "The Art of Sold." The visual is comprised of musical notes. Obviously, there's a disconnect here. It's the red, white and blue background.

Merit.

Resplendent

Few creatives will debate that David Manuel has pretty much written the "manual" on how to create award-winning real estate DM. When the so-called "experts" told David that he shouldn't put as many messages as possible onto one communication, he did just the opposite!

And when those same "experts" told David not to overdo it with his typefaces, he responded by increasing the word "Sold" by 12 points, all capping it and then adding an uppercase "S" to "sign," simply because he could. Then David went ahead (on the back side of the card) and showed why he's won six Gold Paint Brushes in the last twelve years...The Complimentary Evaluation Certificate. Most agents assume that their clients know that they don't need any kind of certificate for an evaluation. And that's exactly why David Manuel is not most agents. Guess that makes seven Gold Paint Brushes!

Poetry

Many of you just read that headline and expected it

to end with the word, "gold." And that, friends, is precisely 

what separates Haskel from the common, every day

creatives. He also knew better than to add the expected

leprechaun image somewhere in the communication.

The tagline, "Just Honesty," ties it all up perfectly.

Haskel, mazel tov on your Silver Paint Brush.

Breathtaking

The best headlines are based on real insights steeped

in good ol' fashioned research. Nicely done ReMax.

This ad is a triple. It would have been a home run were it

not condescending to people with artificial legs.

Bronze Paint Brush-time!

Emotion

There is a point in every adult's life where they

suddenly realize they are completely alone

in the universe. For one brief moment this ad

made me feel otherwise. Bravo, Marie, bravo.

Gold Paint Brush Winner.