Sir. Is that, or is that not, a real commercial?
I stopped being obsessed with advertising award shows a number of years ago. (It coincides suspiciously with the time I stopped winning.) Some, however, will stop at nothing to win — even if it means entering ads for fictitious clients, or running a spot once in Sioux City in the dead of night just to qualify for entering. Award shows have always frowned on these types of things, but entry fees can be addictive.
Now, thanks to the creative aspirations of a few, the whole thing has blown up in the industry’s face. The boys from DDB Brazil tried to win some honors with a fake ad for a real client. With a unique combination of insensitivity and bad taste, they used the horror of 9/11 to score points for the World Wildlife Foundation. Never mind that the client was apparently unaware.
Fortunately, the way the world works, bad things are often the catalyst for good things. With all the attention on this fake ad, the award shows are mulling over their own responsibilities, in some cases taking action. The One Show has just announced a policy that will not only disqualify fake ads, it will prevent the agency and the creative team from entering the One Show for five hears hence. The D&AD show in London has just added new restrictions to their entry rules, though they stop short of “suspension.” (Why jeopardize the cash flow?) What about the rest of them? Clios? Cannes Lions? The Lions in particular pull in zillions of dollars in entry fees every year, globally, so it will be interesting to see how tough they get.
Arthur Einstein, one of my earliest bosses, used to say “It ain’t creative unless it runs.” Unless you’re content to just admire your ad on the wall, you’ll need to do a little more work. Like guide it through a maze of creative directors, planners, account people and clients. If you can do it all — create, defend and convince — you really do deserve an award.
Tags: advertising awards, Clio Awards, Clios, D&AD, DDB Brazil, ken segall, One Show
