May rocked.

It started out with word that our print campaign for adrenaline sportswear brand Fuel Clothing, featuring kids flying through the air on skateboards, Big Wheels and bicycles, was named a 2009 One Show Merit Winner and a Luerzer’s Archive Finalist. That. Is. Huge. Especially since this was a campaign idea we had a lot of passion for – showing the pure joy of figuring out when you “knew” you loved to ride.

Then Architectural Record selected our campaign for ThyssenKrupp Elevator’s new synergy elevator solution as a winner in the Integrated Campaign category for its 2009 Advertising Excellence Awards, which recognize the most effective ads in the building and design marketplace. They actually said of a print ad featuring a crayon-drawn building, “Amazingly, it captured our hearts and minds… and it never even showed a picture of the product.” What better response could you ask of a campaign meant to target architects and encourage their freedom to design?

And then there’s our “Carol of the Christmas Pickle” video that won Most Effective Use of Video AND Best of Show at the DFW Interactive Marketing Association’s 9th annual Excellence in Interactive Marketing Awards. This wasn’t something a client requested – this was just for us. It was simply an idea a few creatives had a lot of love for. And so, with a budget of $200 and six jars of pickles, they went for it. Two weeks later, a new holiday stop-animation masterpiece debuted, featuring costumed pickles, a snowy cardboard village and a song about pickles set to the tune of “Carol of the Christmas Bells.”

Carol of the Christmas Pickle from Firehouse on Vimeo.