The big dogs won the lion’s share of the awards at last night’s big-top, circus-themed Pele Awards gala at Hawaii Theatre.

The Pele Awards, which honor the advertising industry’s best work, were presented by the American Advertising Federation-Hawaii.

Anthology Marketing Group Inc. won six Peles as did Milici Valenti Ng Pack Inc., and Wall-to-Wall Studios Inc. won five. MVNP won the Best of Show for Advertising.

Individuals and boutique agencies also were well represented last night, as were neighbor island companies from Maui and Kauai staking their own claims to industry acclaim with multiple awards.

In the student division, sponsored by the Hono­lulu Star-Advertiser, Yong­hao Yan of the University of Hawaii at Manoa won a Pele for a website and mixed media campaign for Arc of Hawaii.

Ad 2 Honolulu, a serial winner of the national Ad 2 Public Service award, won a Pele last night for its television public service announcement prepared last year for the nonprofit Community Helping Hands as part of its annual pro-bono campaign.

Entries are judged by separate panels, one specializing in advertising, the other in design. Advertising judges unanimously chose the "Perfect Moments" campaign by MVNP, calling it "a great campaign across all executions and mediums." It was also "beautifully shot" and "consistent."

The Hawaii Skin Diver Magazine that was chosen for Best of Show, Design, was cited for its "outstanding design throughout" by judges who had reviewed numerous editions of the magazine and said it was "beautifully done, to every last detail."

The McDonald’s Frappe Freeze event, chosen for a special judges’ award, was a public stunt of which pictures were submitted. Judges called it a "simple, arresting event" that was "nontraditional and inventive" and should serve as motivation for other agencies to unleash "more unconventional (work), more stunts."

None of the judges was able to resist selection of "The Best of Maui 2010 in 3-D" by Maui Time Weekly for special recognition, one of the judges said. The issue was distributed with red- and blue-lensed 3-D glasses, which readers could use to view specially prepared photos and graphics "produced with great love in all the details," the judges said. "To do this for a weekly as a special issue is just fantastic."

Pele-winning work is automatically entered into a national competition. The national awards will be presented during a June 4 gala at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel.