Cannes is almost upon us and whilst some would argue the whole thing is an exercise in self-promotion and networking, it does provide us with the opportunity to stop and think about the last year of advertising.
This year is an important one because it is the first time that Cannes will give a special award, the Glass Lion, to a memorable campaign around gender and women's empowerment. This is obviously a hot topic in the advertising world. You can't walk through the tube or watch an episode of X Factor without getting some kind of positive girl power endorsement. I'm not complaining of course. I work in an industry where you constantly see sexism. Many a time I've seen campaigns where all the men featured were doctors, business men and architects and the women featured were mothers, cooks and nurses. So honestly, when I see an ad where a women is boxing or running a board room I cheer.
My bet for the winner of the Glass Lion is on the "#LikeAGirl" campaign for Always by Leo Burnett, Toronto, Chicago and London. It challenges people's use of the phrase "like a girl" turning the phrase into an expression of strength. Yeh let's fight like a girl and win like a girl! A mantra for us ladies still fighting the good fight in male led agencies.
And it's not just attitudes towards women that's receiving the attention of advertising and brands. Other entries tackle Nazi's in Germany, poverty and hunger and racial prejudices.
AMV BBDO, London's brilliant advert for Guinness, "Made Of Black" redefined the meaning of being black, claiming it isn't a skin colour but a strong, powerful and vibrant attitude. The use of Kanye West's "Black Skinhead" created a powerful music video type piece that I just love.
Others tackle local issues by using their products in a helpful way, like Samsung's "The Safety Truck" by Leo Burnett, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Argentina has a large number of single lane roads and many fatalities are caused by people trying to overtake large vehicles whilst unable to see the road ahead. Samsung fitted their screens to the back of their lorries which gave drivers behind a live feed of the road ahead. Who knows how many lives this creative idea could save. This surely is creativity put to the best use.
This year is an important one because it is the first time that Cannes will give a special award, the Glass Lion, to a memorable campaign around gender and women's empowerment. This is obviously a hot topic in the advertising world. You can't walk through the tube or watch an episode of X Factor without getting some kind of positive girl power endorsement. I'm not complaining of course. I work in an industry where you constantly see sexism. Many a time I've seen campaigns where all the men featured were doctors, business men and architects and the women featured were mothers, cooks and nurses. So honestly, when I see an ad where a women is boxing or running a board room I cheer.
My bet for the winner of the Glass Lion is on the "#LikeAGirl" campaign for Always by Leo Burnett, Toronto, Chicago and London. It challenges people's use of the phrase "like a girl" turning the phrase into an expression of strength. Yeh let's fight like a girl and win like a girl! A mantra for us ladies still fighting the good fight in male led agencies.
And it's not just attitudes towards women that's receiving the attention of advertising and brands. Other entries tackle Nazi's in Germany, poverty and hunger and racial prejudices.
AMV BBDO, London's brilliant advert for Guinness, "Made Of Black" redefined the meaning of being black, claiming it isn't a skin colour but a strong, powerful and vibrant attitude. The use of Kanye West's "Black Skinhead" created a powerful music video type piece that I just love.
Others tackle local issues by using their products in a helpful way, like Samsung's "The Safety Truck" by Leo Burnett, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Argentina has a large number of single lane roads and many fatalities are caused by people trying to overtake large vehicles whilst unable to see the road ahead. Samsung fitted their screens to the back of their lorries which gave drivers behind a live feed of the road ahead. Who knows how many lives this creative idea could save. This surely is creativity put to the best use.
- Perhaps another life saver is this fun and lateral thinking idea from BBDO, Berlin, Germany for Smart - "The Dancing Traffic Light". The idea is simple one. If the red light man was more engaging, maybe people would stop and watch him rather than walking out into traffic. So they made him dance. Not only that, people could go into a dance booth and their movements would control the movements of the little red man. Fun, clever, interactive and life saving then.
- When I was a lowly student of advertising in Falmouth I once went to a party full of art students. One attractive dishevelled guy approached me and asked me what course I was on. When I said Advertising he launched into a 15 minute tirade against me and my nasty capitalist corporate sell out of the art world. He told me I'd rot in hell with all the other money grabbing pigs. Well here's a message for that guy and anyone else who thinks I'm destined for the flames. Adverts that make people smile, save lives and challenge stereotypes do more for the world than a painting ever will.
Pat on the back to all those who made these campaigns. Heaven awaits you
...unless you're also responsible for those protein world ads that is.
On the non-life saving side, other entries captured my imagination because they used technology in new ways. Nike's LED basketball court "House of Mamba" by AKQA, Shanghai and London, gave players a chance to train on a court that took them through motion tracked drills and provided a glimpse of what technology might do in the world of sport in the future.- Whilst not ground breaking one of the adverts I've liked most this year was the use of pre-roll skippable adverts for Geico by The Martin Agency, Richmond, Va. The "Unskippable" videos made comical use of what is normally a limitation for advertisers and rewarded viewers who watched on with hilarious little freeze-frame scenes. Clever stuff.
- In itself "Unity", the advert for Assassin's Creed: Unity by Sid Lee, Paris, might not seem very special. Yeh it's epic, filmic and dramatic but whatever. But it's when you hear about how it was made and see the interactive online elements of the campaign that you really understand why this is a Cannes winner.Players of Assain's Creed were invited to design their own avatars for the game and the 1,400 highest ranking ones were used in the cast of the advert. Online players could then freeze frame the advert and find their own avatar, (and those of their friends) in the scenes. This generated a lot of comments and free publicity on social media too. Success!
Finally there's an old fashioned good old just great TV ad by Saatchi and Saatchi, Sao Paulo, Brazil for Leica called "100". To celebrate the fact that it's 100 years since Leica took the camera out of the studio and put it in people's hands where they could document the real world, the ad recreated 35 scenes from iconic photos. This is the type of ad you want to watch over and over to identify all the pictures. See how many you recognise.
- Visit adweek.com/cannes next week to find out who were the actual winners. Good luck creative angels.