We’ve always said the best ideas don’t need the biggest budgets—just a little heart, a lot of hustle. Two of our faves, A&W’s “Free Floats for Life” and VisitLEX’s “Hey, Aliens! Look at Lexington,” just proved that again as finalists for the 17th Annual Shorty Awards, the international gold standard for all things social and digital.

“Free Floats for Life” made waves with a heartwarming (and headline-grabbing) campaign offering free Root Beer Floats for life to anyone turning 100. The result? 127 earned placements, 1.6 billion impressions, $8.5 million in ad value, and most importantly: a whole lot of love from the Greatest Generation.

“Hey, Aliens! Look at Lexington” invited aliens to come see what makes the Horse Capital of the World so stellar. The results were out of this world (we had to): 1,100+ media placements, 3+ billion earned impressions, $28 million in ad value.

So here’s to A&W and VisitLEX—for proving that when creativity leads, recognition follows.