The “Tsunami” print and video ads created by DDB Brasil for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)–which triggered controversy not only for their content but also for allegedly being unqualified award show entries–have now resulted in the One Club instituting a stringent “fake ads” policy for the One Show beginning in 2010.
The “Tsunami” print ad garnered a Merit honor from the One Show earlier this year but DDB Brasil has since said its entry of the work into the competition was a mistake. The One Club then stripped DDB Brasil of the Merit kudo.
Reportedly both the print and video ads were also submitted to this year’s Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, but made no headway with judges.
The ads depict multiple planes approaching the World Trade Center towers in Manhattan. This scene is coupled with the observation that the tsunami (presumably the one that struck southern Asia in Dec. ’04) killed 100 times as many people as those who perished during 9/11.
DDB Brasil issued an apology for the ads on its website from agency president Sergio Valente.
Valente wrote, “While the work was developed by a team of young creatives seeking to make the point that nature is a powerful force, the work should never have been approved at the agency, let alone have run anywhere or been submitted for awards.
“The work, which ran just once locally in print and on cable, and the attention, concern and offense it has caused, has underscored the point that today no ad is truly local,” continued Valente. “I emphasize this work does not reflect our thoughts and our beliefs about 9/11. On behalf of all of DDB Brasil, I offer my most sincere apologies and regrets to those who were offended by this work.”
Definition and implementation
In light of the “Tsunami” ads, the One Club has taken it upon itself to define “fake ads” and initiate punishment for their entry into the One Show.
The One Club defines “fake ads” as: ads created for nonexistent clients or made and run without a client’s approval, or ads created expressly for award shows that are run once to meet the requirements of a tear sheet.
Thus starting in 2010, the One Show will be adopting the following new rules and penalties.
o An agency or regional office of an agency network that enters an ad made for nonexistent clients, or made and run without a client’s approval, will be banned from entering the One Show for five years.
o The entire team credited on the “fake” entries will be banned from entering the One Show for five years.
o And an agency or regional office of an agency network that enters an ad that has run once, on late night TV, or has only run because the agency produced a single ad and paid to run it themselves, will be banned from entering The One Show for three years. (The One Club reserves the right to review “late-night, ran-once” and launch versions, at The One Club’s discretion. If it is determined that the ad was created expressly for award show entry, the penalty will hold.)
“The One Club exists to champion excellence in advertising and design in all its forms,” stated Kevin Swanepoel, president of The One Club. “We will stringently enforce these rules and penalties to ensure that The One Show remains the pinnacle of advertising and design created for marketers and brands. The One Show encourages other international award shows to follow suit with similar policies. In addition, we are in the process of developing an initiative in the agency and creative communities, in which individuals and agencies will be called upon to monitor and eliminate ‘fake’ ads at their source. A detailed guidelines will appear in the 2010 One Show call for entry.”
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More