For the 9,000 ad industry delegates who descended on Cannes for the 47th International Advertising Festival (6/19-6/24), it came as no surprise that Budweiser’s "Whassup" went home with the Grand Prix. Toward the end of the Festival, the campaign’s familiar catch phrase could be heard within the theatres of the Palais des Festivals. During the daylong short list screening, several audience members took to shouting "Whassup!" periodically. By Friday night (6/23), a day before the awards ceremony, rumor of the campaign’s Grand Prix win had become a near certainty, all but formally confirmed.
As earlier reported, "Whassup," which was created by DDB Chicago and directed by Charles Stone III via C&C/Storm Films, New York, clearly stood out among this year’s record entry pool of nearly 6,000 ads (SHOOT, 7/7). In the words of Cannes jury president Marcello Serpa, co-CEO/creative director, Almap/BBDO, So Paulo, Brazil, the Grand Prix "was very easy to pick." He continued: "The moment I saw this campaign, I thought it was so fresh, so relevant and so appealing. It is just the best piece of advertising in the short list. Everyone likes the Grand Prix and everyone gets the same feeling from it."
"There wasn’t anything that really came close," added Cannes judge Robert Dow, national creative director, Grey Advertising Australia, Melbourne. "But secondly, it is a campaign that shows the product in the first frame, and the product is mentioned in the first 10 seconds. It hits all the right notes."
Cannes judge Mark Wnek, partner, Euro RSCG Wnek Gosper, London, described the campaign as, "good advertising that works. It’s something that everyone likes."
In spite of "Whassup’s" seemingly universal appeal, not everyone was convinced that it deserved the ad industry’s highest honor. Several non-jury members from the stateside spot community who spoke with SHOOT expressed dismay that the campaign hadn’t originated through the traditional agency creative pipeline. Indeed, it is common knowledge that "Whassup" was based on True, a short film Stone conceived, wrote and directed two years ago. DDB collaborated with Stone to adapt the film’s concept to the advertising arena.
The Cannes jury, however, rejected the criticism as splitting hairs. While Cannes judge Lode Schaeffer, creative director, Schaeffer Wnsch Has (SWH), Amsterdam, conceded that the issue of "Whassup’s" origin was raised during the judging process, Serpa explained: "We are not judging the creative process or how people get the idea, but the work. We are judging advertising. I wish I had seen the film and said, ‘If I put a beer in the hands of those guys, it would be a marvelous commercial.’ "
Cannes judge Cheryl Berman, chairman/chief creative director, Leo Burnett USA, Chicago, said, "If you want to give credit where credit is due, that’s fine. But we want to celebrate the power of the idea. I think people who work at agencies and work very hard to come up with ideas somehow think, ‘Oh, it didn’t come from there.’ But if that’s how you think, you’ve put yourself in a box."
Added Cannes judge Jim Ferguson, president/chief creative director, Young & Rubi-cam, New York: "Ideas are ideas, and they come from all kinds of places. [DDB was] smart enough to recognize that idea."
The idea shows no signs of slowing. According to DDB executive VP/executive production director Grant Hill, Stone has helmed four additional "Whassup" ads. Two of the newer spots, "Wasabi" and "Game Show," screened at Cannes: "Wasabi" was one of five spots that made up the Grand Prix-winning campaign, while "Game Show" made the short list.
Had the race for the Grand Prix proved more competitive, "Whassup’s" origins might have proved a greater factor in determining the winner. As earlier reported, however, the entry pool at this year’s festival was lackluster overall, despite the record 5,757 submissions, which was 1,000 more than the previous year. Even with some 21 percent more entries, just 103 Lions were awarded, only one more than ’99’s tally. U.S. entries dominated the festival, winning 27 Lions in the film/TV derby.
As to why this year’s show fell short of creative expectations, the Cannes jury offered few concrete reasons, but instead theorized about the natural ebb and flow of the creative tide. "Our expectations are rising every year," said Cannes judge Feico Derschow, executive creative director, Eiler & Riemel, Munich. "We expect to see better and more than the year before. But we can’t always live up to that."
In evaluating this year’s work, Serpa said, "We tried to give awards to work that makes sense by category. It would be very easy for us to give awards by the jokes they have. You laugh a lot, and those are the commercials people like. But this could lead us to a misjudgment. I think we have to look for advertisements that make sense, and choose commercials that work for the client and the consumer. Sometimes it’s not a joke; sometimes it’s emotional or a very serious approach. Sometimes it’s a product demonstration. But it’s good advertising, and we’re here to judge good advertising."
Great Britain came closest to the U.S. with 24 Lions, including seven Golds (one in a campaign category). The Gold tally included "Beautiful," a Nike ad via Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore., and directed by Frank Budgen of Gorgeous Enterprises, London. The ad was the only other serious contender for the Grand Prix.
Gorgeous took home another Gold for British Airways’ "Johnny Foreigner" via M&C Saatchi, London. Chris Palmer directed the ad, a series of vignettes that poke fun at odd British customs and eccentricities.
The U.K.’s only Gold Lion campaign was awarded to a pair of spots promoting the British Army, which were judged in the public awareness images category. "Blanket" and "Truck," via Saatchi & Saatchi, London, and produced by Outsider, London, were directed by Paul Gay.
Outsider and director Gay also won a Gold Lion for Church’s Chicken’s "Grandpa" via Cliff Freeman and Partners, New York. Gay’s stateside home is bicoastal Omaha Pictures.
Three additional spots for Great Britain won Gold Lions: "Born Free" for Land Rover via WCRS, London, and directed by Ivan Zacharias of Blink Productions, London; Lynx Body Spray’s "Ideal Woman," via Bartle Bogle Hegarty, London, and directed by Paul Goldman via 2AM Films, London (Goldman’s main production house roost is bicoastal Cohn + Company); and Volkswagen’s "Heaven," created by BMP DDB, London, and directed by Walter Stern of Academy Commercials, London. The latter ad pairs footage of a VW and its driver caught in a traffic snare, with a poetic voiceover in which the driver explains his peaceful reverie at finding himself alone in his car.
France went home with three Gold Lions for individual ads. "Daddy," for Bic razors, was created by Boulogne Billancourt, France, and produced by Les Producers, Levallois-Perret, France. Raphael and David Vital Durand directed the ad, which features a half-asleep daughter mistaking her father’s goodbye-kiss for her mother’s because of the smoothness of the man’s cheek.
Les Producers took a second Gold Lion for Groupe VW France’s "Lupo 3L" out of DDB Paris and directed by Kasper Wedhendal. And "Fingerprint," for Ansell condoms via BDDP & FILS, Boulogne Billancourt, and produced by La Pac, Neuilly sur Seine, France, won a Gold Lion. Franck Vroegrop directed the ad.
As earlier reported, Spain also took home a Gold for Nike’s "Manifestation" via Remo Asatsu, Madrid, and directed by Fernando de France of Tesauro, Madrid.
Only four other Gold Lions were awarded at this year’s Festival: one each to Canada, Brazil, Columbia and Singapore. The latter was a campaign for Mattel’s Scrabble via Ogilvy & Mather, Singapore, and Odeon Productions, Hong Kong. Sng Tong Beng directed "Syphilis" and "Sodomised."
Canada’s Gold went to Toyota Dealers’ "Real Dealers Can’t Jump," which was created by Gee Jeffery & Partners, Toronto, and produced by Radke Films, Toronto. Martin Shewchuk helmed the spot, which spoofs the car dealer commercial genre. (Shewchuk recently took on U.S. representation via newly formed, Santa Monica-based Tropix Films.)
One somewhat controversial Gold Lion winner was "The Week" for Epoca magazine via W/Brasil, So Paulo. Directed by Jarbas Agnelli and produced by the Ad Studio, So Paulo, the lengthy ad consisted of a black screen superimposed with contradictory images and text.
Finally, "Dandruff" for the Anti-Drugs Campaign of Columbia took home a Gold Lion. Serpa noted that the distinction is rare among the public health & safety category. The ad shows a cocaine addict sniffing another man’s shoulder when he notices some dandruff. It was created by Leo Burnett Columbia, Bogota, and directed by Rene Gonzalez of Nova Films, Santiago, Chile.
While Serpa maintained that the jury "tried very hard to maintain the awards standards and give Lions to work that makes sense," the large, mostly unremarkable entry pool didn’t escape the jury’s notice. Asked if nearly 6,000 commercials were too many for a jury to reasonably consider, the judges uttered a unanimous "Yes." But they were reluctant to recommend any sort of qualifying screening process that might limit submissions. "We’re going to have to rely on creative directors around the world who send in the work, and ask that they be more discriminating," offered Wnek.
Schaeffer was more direct: "Please don’t send in work just so that it’s here," he pleaded.
Nor did dot-com advertising offer any reprieve from the overall banality of this year’s competition. "It was mostly disappointing," said Schaeffer, who cautioned agencies to think twice before taking on clients who don’t have a clear business plan or identity in place. Added Wnek, "Dot-coms have been in a terrible hurry [to get advertising out there], and so agencies have been in a hurry, too."
On the other hand, Cannes judge James Lowther, creative director, M&C Saatchi, London, refused to pass the buck. "In some cases," he said, "the agencies have failed totally."
Even so, several dot-com ads won Lions, including the earlier reported U.S. Gold-Lion winning campaigns for Cybercash. com, Stamps.com and AltaVista, as well as the Silver Lion-winning campaign for E*Trade. (One E*Trade spot, "Monkey," won a Gold Lion.)
EDS’ "Cat Herders" via Fallon, Minneapolis, also won a Silver Lion. The ad was directed by John O’Hagan of bicoastal/ international hungry man. Meanwhile, CNET.com’s "Plant" created by Leagas Delaney, San Francisco, and directed by Traktor of bicoastal Partizan, took home a Bronze.
Outside the U.S., a total of five dot-com spots won Lions. Aucland online auctions’ "The Fire" via CLM/BBDO, Issy les Moulineaux, France, and directed by Remy Bevaux of Quad Productions, Paris, took a Silver.
Four Bronze Lions went to: monsterboard.nl’s "Angry Young Man" via SWH and directed by Mike van Diem of 25fps Commercial Production, Amsterdam; Zipnet’s "Baby" via F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi, So Paulo, and directed by Rodolfo Vanni of Cia de Cinema, So Paulo; Exite.it’s "Reveille" out of Lowe Pirella Gottsche, Milan, and directed by Luca Lucini of New Ways, Milan; and Stjarn TV’s "Smokers Corner" via Lowe Brindfors, Stockholm, and directed by Fredrik Edfeldt of Pinguin Film, Stockholm.
Nor did the Cannes jury cite an abundance of new trends or techniques among this year’s film/TV entrants-or at least not good ones. "Things looked very much the same," said Wnek. Berman, however, said she saw "lots of technique-y stuff," but that it "didn’t make the short list." She added: "The message being sent is that [technique is] a bad place to start looking for an idea."
Serpa, however, mentioned an ad for Vodafone text messaging as an example of both a strong and unique style. "Plane Simple," which made the Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors showcase and also won a Silver Lion, was created by BMP DDB, London, and directed by Antione Bardou-Jaquet of Partizan Midi Minuit, London. The graphics-laden spot consisted of an animated, three-dimensional cityscape that was created out of text images.
Some journalists did take issue with the meager representation of women on the film/TV jury, which this year amounted to just two out of 21 film/TV judges: Berman and Milka Pogliani, vice chairman/executive creative director, McCann-Erickson Italy, Milan.
But the Cannes jury, including Berman and Pogliani, offered little explanation or opinion on the matter. "I don’t know," said Serpa. "They try to look for good judges. It’s not based on gender." And Festival chairman Roger Hatchuel pointed out that half of the media Lion judges were women, and that the number of women judges in any category depends on the number of possible women contenders available for the jury position.
Rounding out the U.S. Lion-winners were seven additional ads. Silver Lions went to Charles Schwab’s "Retirement Home" via BBDO New York and directed by David Cornell of bicoastal Headquarters; and the UC Berkeley athletic department’s "Funeral" via Black Rocket, San Francisco. Judged in the entertainment & leisure category, the spot was directed by Kevin Donovan of bicoastal Bedford Falls.
Hallmark greeting cards’ "Eyes" and "Post Office" took a Silver and a Bronze Lion, respectively, in the personal effects category. The ads were created by Leo Burnett Co., Chicago, and directed by James Gartner of Gartner, bicoastal.
Three additional Bronze Lions went to: Budweiser’s "Expose," created by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, produced by Innervision Studios, St. Louis, and directed by Tom Routson of bicoastal Tool of North America; Anheuser-Busch’s "Check ID," created by DDB and directed by Richard D’Alessio via Los Angeles-based A Band Apart Commercials (D’Alessio recently joined New York-headquartered Shooting Gallery Productions); and Jack in the Box’s "Jack Raps with Young People" via Kowloon Wholesale Seafood Company, Santa Monica, and directed by Dick Sittig of bicoastal/ international @radical. media.
In the end, Serpa said if there’s a message being sent by the Cannes jury to the industry at large, it is that good advertising "is for everyone." Schaeffer added that the Grand Prix demonstrates that "with good advertising, you can connect to people’s minds. But with creativity, you can reach people’s hearts."
As earlier reported (SHOOT, 7/7), bicoastal/international Propaganda/Satellite took the Palme d’Or. Finishing second was bicoastal/international Partizan. Then in rank order came: Gorgeous Enterprises, London; PYTKA, Venice, Calif.; bicoastal hungry man; bicoastal/ international @radical.media; Paris-based Les Producers; Outsider, London; Godman, London; and Harry Nash, London.
