Tasteless scam
When is the scam ad problem at our industry award shows going to end?
I'm not talking about agency creatives taking an idea to a client and getting them to run it. That's initiative.
What I'm talking about are unscrupulous people who create work for clients they don't even have and enter it into award shows.
Not only is it dishonest. It also devalues the entire award process.
Which makes clients question the value of creativity. And that for me is a major problem.
Latest case in point are six people from DDB in Brazil who were awarded a Merit Award at the One Show for this print ad for WWF.
I think the ad's a bit tasteless to be honest and surprised it got a mention.
But not as surprised as the WWF themselves. Which is why they issued the following statement today:
"WWF strongly condemns this offensive and tasteless ad and did not authorize its production or publication. It is our understanding that it was a concept offered by an outside advertising agency seeking our business in Brazil. The concept was summarily rejected by WWF and should never have seen the light of day."
posted by Stan Lee at 3:28 pm
8 Comments:
What's worse than getting caught? How about leaving an anonymous comment saying we're innocent - which of course we're not!
This just proves that there is no such thing as true creativity: http://tinyurl.com/kvqgwm Wow.
Cretins all around.
There's a reason why police departments will devote months to elucidating the death of one person among millions: a little concept called murder.
Hope the WWF sues them.
As for the ad itself, well it would have been quite controversial had it been run. I don't mind it too much, but I imagine others would.
First... Stan, you are right on all counts.
Second... This ad isn't just insensitive and inappropriate, it isn't a good ad. Sure, the image is powerful and "tells a story," but it's a circuitous and illogical story: A tsunami killed more people than terrorists. Tsunami's are an act of nature. That makes nature more important and worthy of our attention than terrorists. So... Ergo... In conclusion... Take care of nature.
Whaaaa...??? It makes no sense. If nature killed more people than terrorists, the logical conclusion is that we should be bombing and killing nature... Duh!
Third... Award shows are a plague endemic to the ad biz. Awards say nothing about the efficacy of an agency's work. Awards should have no bearing on a client's decision to hire/retain an agency.
I ran a 10-person agency for six years. Never entered one award show. They are expensive distractions.
Yikes. I didn't know this was going on. Do companies hire agencies that scam awards?
remember Benetton in the 80s?
I agree with Zac mostly but I don't like the ad at all it is tasteless.
Comp
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