MUMBAI: Earth Communications Office India which had launched a nationwide contest for a 30-second or less commercial on the theme of Conserve Water in December 2003 have announced five television commercials (TVC) as the winners of the contest. Two out of these which have also been selected for the Cannes Lions Advertising Festival 2004. The other three commercials will be shown exclusively on Indian television networks.

In the extremely close contest, there was a tie for Cannes between Ogilvy & Mather's Manmohan Anchan, Ravi Eashwar, Ajith Kumar and RKSBBDO Mumbai's Chandrashekhar Vaidya.

The commercials that will be shown on the Indian television channels are:

First position - Anand Vivek Thakur and Meenal Relekar, MBA students at the MET Schools of management, Mumbai who associated with O & M to create the commercial.

Second position - Bapi H Ajmera from Mumbai

Third position - Manoj Shroff, Prachi Singh and Anagan Nigwekar from Equinox Films, Mumbai

The jury comprising Star India's CEO Peter Mukerjea, filmmaker Govind Nihalani, Madison Media MD and chairman Sam Balsara, Film Producers Guild of India president and Ficci entertainment committee president Amit Khanna, Percept Advertising CEO Rajesh Pant and Mudra executive director and CCO Kaushik Roy reviewed 43 different entries received from across the country.

The themes covered varied from the funny, emotive and drastic to the macabre. From animation to stark realism, the entries were of a high standard for a 30-second or less commercial.