Students of Department of Communication Sciences (IK) of Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY) associated in Advertising Learning Community (KBBI) of Otak Atik OTak (OAO) obtained a number of achievements at Pinasthika Creative Festival XVIII. They achieved gold and silver for a young director of public service ads, bronze for AdSudent, and bronze for Bawabna-Radio-Public Service Radio Ad.

The festival was conducted from October to December, and joined by 666 participants. The winners were announced on Saturday (16/12).

A communication student of batch 2013 taking a specialization of Advertising Riyado Prabowo who won gold for a young director of public service ads said that his work was entitled ‘Pocongan’, while Rizki Putra Wicaksana gaining silver for a young director of public service ads created  a work entitled ‘Pesakitan’. Besides, the bronze medal for the category was achieved by Teroyak Asmara from Akademi Desain Visi Yogyakarta (ADVI) with a work entitled ‘Warisan Kebencian’.

Bowo explained that ‘Pocongan’ told a reality of football which can reinforce or divide this nation. “A committee give a brief explanation of football. Here, we are required to think that football can unite this nation. My work showed that fanatic supporters remain fanatic after they passed away,” he stated in an interview on Thursday (21/12).

“The advertisement emphasized that we have to unify to make better Indonesia. When would we stop quarreling with our brothers and sisters in this country? If we unite, we can go hand in hand to develop Indonesia,” declared Bowo.

Meanwhile, Ravelita Agesti and Hani Rahmah Noviandri (communication students of UMY of batch 2014), who won the bronze medal for the AdStudent category, expressed that they were glad to achieve an award in a prestigious national competition whose participants were excellent at advertising. “Alhamdulillah, we could join the festival and won. Our preparation to participate in the competition were brainstorming ideas, conceptualizing, and production. We also intensively discussed with mentors who always gave us suggestions,” stated Hani.

She added, “Our participation in the festival was to enhance our capability in advertising. Thus, it would be valuable for us to have a job in advertising.”

Hani and Revalita joined workshops and seminars of the Pinashtika festival in the previous years. Thus, they were motivated to participate in the Pinashtika competition.

“The theme of our work was ‘Persatuan Supporter Sepak Bola Indonesia’ (The Unity of Indonesia Football Supporters). Indonesia football associations were established to unify the supporters from various backgrounds. Hence, the advertisement was a medium to unite football supporters,” declared Hani.

Hani believed that the achievement is only a beginning to foster their ability since there are other competitions. “I am proud of being able to win the competition. Afterwards, we would like to join other national and international competitions. I also expect that other students could participate in various competitions because they will increase our experiences and be assets in a work place,” she recommended.