On a turbulent Tuesday night, the PA department made their way to the Star of Bethnal Green to embark on a terrifying evening of interrogation: the pub quiz.Embarrassment was likely. Nerves were fraught.The Holy Grail was in sight: £50 prize money was up for grabs with immeasurable pride at stake.

Inspired by a ‘money runs through my fingers’ attitude, the team name was agreed upon: Insufficient Funds. There were ten other competing teams, many regulars of the pub quiz scene. Questions were varied and challenging, everything from film sound bites and Shakespearean sonnets to labeling pulmonary veins on a diagram of the human heart. Each team member added their valuable area of expertise and just to show how seriously and dedicated we were to the cause, we even managed to rat out a few cheats. Mobile phones were banished from the table or else they would be chucked in the urinal. There was a bonus round thrown in where Lara was quickly pushed into the ring to regale her most awful first date tale to the entire pub. With this, and our generally loud volume, the other teams didn’t see us as a threat.

As the quizmaster began to reveal the results, we tensely awaited our disappointment; a walk of shame home was surely imminent?! 5^th place…4^th place… still nothing,, 3^rd place…. Nothing…biting our nails anxiously…2^nd place…we’d done it! 1^st place to INSUFFICENT FUNDS. We had won, in the face of adversity and beaten 7 time winners  Bojangles. In our glory and winning excitement we even managed to break the table as the quizmaster reflected, ‘You guys are so fun, I didn’t think there was any way you were going to win.’ And so it seems, sometimes you really can have your cake and eat it. 

Our team winning picture right after we broke the table:

[photo by Paul Barbera]

A couple of weeks ago, we asked you all to use your internet powers for good and ‘make the world a better place from your bedroom.’ 

It was the first time we’d done anything like this, and we expected a few emails to trickle through. We were totally unprepared for the absolute torrent that hit our inboxes. 

We were massively impressed by how much effort you all went to, as well as the variety and creativity of your entries. There were people helping the homeless, raising thousands for charity, tackling Britain’s food crisis, rallying armies of Lord of The Rings fans, making physical products and donating their own bodies to good causes. Some people built up a social media storm. Others made it on to the BBC. An honourable mention goes out to the peppy Russian team who used a single hoover to set up a cleaning empire in their university halls.

We spent days wading through your work and we’ve finally put together our ultimate top favourite entries. Even though there were some awesome speculative ideas, this brief was all about doing so we’ve only selected those that have physically done something to make the world a better place.

We would love to have included more, but the Wieden+Kennedy London office is squashed enough as it is. So, in no particular order, and with a couple of examples:

Damian & Alex – Give To View.
Joel Buckley – Go:Zone Wireless Leash 
Sandy McIntosh – Martin’s Worldwide Collection Cup
Marcella & Elin – Hack Valentines Day
NoOne – Index Of Good
Adam & Jack – No Purchase Necessary
Jack & Joe – Control Joe
Zac Mehdid – Body Donation
Simone Mascagni – One Dollar Xbox

You're all invited to an event we're hosting next Friday in partnership with the Young Creative Council. We'll follow up with the deets.
 
To everyone else, thank you so much for your entries. We’ll definitely be running this competition again soon, so you can all have another crack.