This just in from Cannes and 'the pony-tailed one.'
"We've created a system that rewards work that is increasingly unknown to anyone outside the business. We have become connoisseurs of esoterica. And in the process, we're becoming more about us, and less about changing the world.
We are becoming irrelevant award-chasers."
Halavai, Jeff.
Read his whole philippic here:
http://adage.com/cannes09/article?article_id=137525
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
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3 comments:
It's rather interesting, and important, that the leader of one of the most awarded agencies is speaking out like this. It was a time when you got famous and rewarded for doing work that was indeed public and made an impact on the perception of certain brands. Goodby is behind GotMilk, which has become part of the culture, and not just ad culture. One thing, however, that created this world of scams is the fact that small countries, non-english speaking, couldn't win internationally, however much of a splash their work may have done at home. Thus they had to revert to universal ideas to have a chance. Maybe this whole thing about international awards should only be open to campaigns that are actually running cross border? Which unfortunately will mean a basically American show.
The biggest value I see in Cannes for example, is the recognition of craft skills by production companies, photographers, designers, etc. Off and on-line. That it takes a decent creative mind to come up with a fake wall ad for a running shoe is basically irrelevant, if it wasn't for the fact that it'll give you double the salary and a shot at a bigger job, where real work for real clients may become too big an obstacle to overcome.
Sounds like Goodby has been doing some navel gazing. Good for him for recognizing that advertising is the lint in our belly buttons. It doesn't make me feel any better about the ridiculous way I make my living. But, it is always good to put things in perspective.
Nice. And necessary. Amen to people on top who are waking up and not afraid to say it.
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