"All it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to remain silent"

Beginning his article with that famous rallying call, a guy called Anubis has done a truly exceptional job of exposing the full extent of the scams of FP7 Doha (see post of two days ago, and thanks to everyone who drew my attention to this).

For example, he shows how they even doctored the packs in a series of print ads for a brand of mouthwash, to make them more aesthetically pleasing and hence awardable:

Read the full piece here.

As promised, I've been doing a bit of journalism - for you, my work-avoiding readers - and I've got in touch with an Asian ECD, to get a view from the region which is (perhaps unfairly) most associated with scam or ghost work.

He's a pretty big cheese - David Guerrero, founder, chairman and chief creative officer of BBDO Guerrero in Manila.


This is what he has to say on the subject:

The FP7 situation is a debacle, and I don't want to look like their apologist... which I'm most certainly not.

However, there is a genuine distinction between what they did and the genuine push for innovation that agencies everywhere undertake for major clients.

I think there's a lot of self-righteous bullshit about Asia being a scam factory coming from London (and other first world locations).

A flick back through old D&AD's will reveal all kinds of dodgy executions for car repairs, fish and chip shops, TV repair shops, school plays, architectural historians etc.

However it does have to be said that Jim Aitchison, Neil French and many others since have made a lot of ads for a lot of smallish clients out of Singapore which picked up a lot of metal at global shows back in the 90s.

And since then a steady stream of Aussies, Brits and Yanks have made their way there seeking to emulate their stellar rise to international stardom or even just a nicer job when they go home after a few years. I interviewed Jim Aitchison about this a few years ago for Campaign Brief and he said that the secret of Singapore is simply that there's nothing else to do at weekends except work on ads and get them into shows.

However to write off the entire continent of over 2 billion people because of a few expats in one city-state is going a bit far. Thailand has developed a truly vibrant and highly recognized TV industry with at one point two out of the top 10 directors in the Gunn Report coming from there. There's no suggestion that this is scam because you can see the work on TV every night and clients have come to demand great work.

Basically small clients and initiatives to big ones are seen as ways of raising the bar for creative teams and for clients themselves.

Western Multinational clients (with some honorable exceptions) in Asia tend to be extremely risk averse and prone to formulaic work. There are exceptions obviously but they themselves are subject to a lot of regional and global controls on the process. Locally-headquartered Asian clients can vary greatly in their appetite for interesting work. Local entrepreneurs tend to be braver because they think (rightly) that it will work better for them. However as they get larger they start to want to imitate the Western Multinationals clients...

So as far as a 'philosophy' goes it's probably something like: the only way we're going to compete in international shows is to push work to mainstream clients when circumstances allow and keep one or two projects on the go with pro-bono clients and/or Small and Medium size businesses in the hope that a) they will allow the agency to do more interesting work and b) that they will someday get bigger.

Our agency just launched a pilot scheme where we approached a local business organization and asked them to put themselves forward for 3 months free work from a junior team of creatives, planners and suits in the agency. They then pitched to us and we selected three of them (a chain of car repair shops, a high-end boutique cosmetics firm and a small chain of clothing stores.) Our teams (composed of around eight or so 'rising stars' were then set loose on these accounts with minimal supervision from senior management. We'll see the work before it gets presented - and then catch up with the client at the end of the program. If they want to continue the relationship they pay us at our regular rates. If not then they are free to take the work we've done for them and use it.


Interesting how we're all very quick to brand "Asian creatives" as the worst scammers... then Guerrero points out that many of the offenders in those parts are actually ex-pat Brits or Aussies.

Anyway, we can't expect Cannes or the other awards organisers to do anything about the problem. They depend on entry fees. And on Agencies' honesty.

And I doubt individual jurors can do anything. If we throw out a piece of work because it 'smells fishy', we run the risk of undermining the efforts of people who've legitimately busted their balls to get an ad shot and run on their own initiative.

The name-and-shame approach that Anubis is adopting seems like the best course of action to me.

I applaud him.

Director of the Month: Steve Reeves

I always like working with directors who are ex-creatives.

They just get it.

Steve Reeves is a typical ex-creative of a director, in my opinion, in that he doesn't have a personal style that overwhelms everything he shoots, but instead adopts whatever approach will best serve the idea.

As a result, he has a truly excellent reel... but you may find yourself saying "I didn't know Steve Reeves did that one" at times.

The only ad on his reel I don't particularly like is the first one, "Child Orators" for the BBC, purely because children speaking in the voice of a dead adult freaks me out.

But he's racked up more than a few gems: Agent Provocateur "Kylie", which has got a mere 360 million views, the brilliant Anti-Drinking "Batman", the Anti-Drinking one where the girl sucks up her own vomit, which I like, and McDonalds "Ruby", in which the (lack of) expression on the face of the guy in the brown leather jacket just kills me every time.

So, let's have a chat about Steve Reeves. Have you worked with him? Was he nice? Did he do a good job? And do you agree with my theory that, on average, ex-creatives make better directors?

In My Day, There Were Rules For Scam

You had to at least get the Client's approval.

Last year's Cannes saw a new low, where a TV ad for JCPenney won a Bronze Lion... until it turned out that JCPenney had no knowledge of it.

But today comes a new new low.

An Agency called FP7 in Doha created this ad for Samsung, which ran in Lebanon.


Not only did they not get the Client's approval... it isn't even their client!

Sunny Hwang, the president of Samsung Electronics Levant, said: "At no time was Samsung Electronics aware of these advertisements and the company has not approved or commissioned FP7 to create any advertising campaigns."

Full story here.

What next? Can I just mock up an Economist poster, slap it on a wall, and enter it for awards?

Fancy working on Nike? Or Honda? Don't bother getting a job at W&K. Just shoot an ad and send it out to the newspapers.

Someone needs to do something.

P.S. For tomorrow I'm going to try to get an interview with an ECD from Asia - the epicentre of scam - and hear their side of the story.

P.P.S. Thanks to Antony Mouse for drawing my attention to this unholy outbreak of wickedness

TV "Not Dead"

Sorry this isn't another post slagging off the latest viral, but I do think it's important.

Bob Hoffman (The Ad Contrarian) has written the best refutation I've ever seen of the "TV is dead" argument.

His jumping-off point was a story in The New York Times last week about a massive new piece of research conducted in America, which showed that “Even though people have the opportunity to watch video on their computers and cellphones, TV accounted for 99 percent of all video consumed in 2008."

If you're far too extremely busy to read Bob's full piece, here is the four-word summary:

TV still kicks ass

Fake Ones Are Better

I love this, but then I'm a sucker for all that post-modern shit. It's the perfect mode of humour for the smart-arse (because it's self-consciously 'clever') and the English (because it's indirect/ distancing).

However, it's well-recognised that the emergence of irony in a form indicates that it's no longer at the peak of its cool. Must we therefore infer that virals are no longer cool?

Thanks to GC for sending it.

Which LED Ad Do You Prefer?

Samsung




or Honda?



I feel terribly disloyal saying this, because the director of the Samsung viral is a good friend of mine (Hi James, sorry, really sorry, he is a brilliant director, everyone, he did Nike 'Torres' for example, check out his reel at Outsider.TV) but I think I prefer the Honda one.

I like the vibe of it, it feels more real, and doesn't feel like it's trying to explain everything to you.

My correspondent MM's view was: "Love the idea of sheep covered in LED lights, but the post looks like it’s been done on a ZX Spectrum."

Anyway. What do I know. The sheep have 3.5 million views already.

How The US Airforce Responds To Blogs

And if that doesn't work, bomb them.

When Real People Critique Adverts

This is a new viral for Stella, created by Mother, that remakes '24' in the style of 1960s French film director Jean-Luc Godard.

Other ads in the campaign feature Bruce Deville playing Jean Meqlain in "Dial Hard", and "8 Kilometre", in which two duelling literati face off in a war of words in a French jazz club.

I thought they were quite nice.

But on the Guardian Media website, comments from the public include:

"Has the credit crunch taken the talent out of advertising?" (this from kranl).

bumfight reckons: "That has to be the lamest spoof every made. It's also the laziest. And it's about as 'funny' as rectal cancer."

"Dreadful," reckons hitandrun. "The Truffaut one is quite impossible to watch till the end unless you're a severe masochist."

Crikey. And they say ad blogs are bitchy.

A useful reminder, I suppose, that we live in a bubble, within which "the latest new work from Mother" is very interesting. But outside of which, it's just so much more pollution.

When The Ad For The Ad Is Better Than The Ad Itself

You know those 2-minute films that Agencies put together, to summarise a multimedia campaign, to enter into awards? (Example above).

I know some people hate them, and would much rather judge the work itself, rather than a slick film that someone's made about the work.

But I must admit, they're a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. Rather than watching an ad, looking at three print executions, some direct mail, some store designs... all of which fall out of the envelope and onto the floor... all you have to do is watch a movie.

And now there's a website that collects these little movies. Other examples on there include the Night Driving campaign, and Lynxjet. Who knows, one day they'll have their own festival - the case study film festival.

Thanks D for the tip.

Does Anyone Walk Around Any More?

When I was a youngster, you'd often see Creatives 'hanging out' in each other's offices.

In the last few years, I think that's declined.

I'm sure we've all got busier. But I also reckon the internet has permanently altered our in-office socialisation (would perhaps be surprising if it hadn't, considering the transformative effect it's had on our social lives in general.)

Think about it. Whenever you have twenty minutes' downtime nowadays, do you pop in to see a mate, or do you click onto a website?

Tell the truth. Oh, and vote in poll (top right of this page).

Sell! Sell!

Here's another blog I want to introduce you to.

It's called Sell! Sell!, is written by Creatives - good ones - and has cool stuff on it like these meatscapes.




And the Daft Punk console.

Enjoy.

Sympathy For The Boss

I do hope you've started reading The Ad Contrarian. I think it might be my new favourite blog.

Responding to all our unsolicited advice for Creative Directors, he has posted some thoughts of his own - not about how to be a good Creative Director, but how to be a happy one.

His most important tip is to hire good people.

If you have terrific people, the advertising business isn’t that difficult. If you have mediocrities, advertising is impossible. For your own self-preservation you must get rid of bad people and hire good ones. There is no other way to do good work and have a happy life. Talent is a rare and precious thing. The idea that "we're all creative" is absolute bullshit. Mediocre talent never makes terrific ads. Never.

This set me thinking how easy it is to whinge about one's CD/ECD. In actual fact, they have a pretty damn hard job... dealing with all the mediocre people around them like you and me. How many ads that you show your CD are actually any good? Not many, right? And he has to wade through all that shit... and then stroke your ego enough to make sure you don't go back to your office and sulk.

Read the rest of the post here.

Oh, I also like this cartoon of his.

Top Team

People used to discuss who is the 'top team' at such-and-such an Agency. I haven't heard the term in a while though... and that makes me wonder if it still has any currency.

Let's find out.

Who would you say is the top team at their respective Agency?

P.S. I can't really stop people from anonymously naming themselves. But just think how hollow you'll feel.

P.P.S. Also, no BBH nominations please, wouldn't be cricket

What Makes A Good Creative Director?

There's an in-depth post on The Denver Egotist on this subject at the moment, Part 1 here, Part 2 here.

It's worth reading, though as I say, it is long. And I have a short attention span. So I thought I'd throw the question over to you guys with a challenge to put it more concisely.

What would you say makes a good CD - or a bad one - using as few words as you can.

Here's my entry. A good CD "says no nearly all the time" (6 words).

Oh, I've got one for 'bad CD' as well. A bad CD "is woolly" (2 words).

What They Really Wear On The Today Programme

This is what happened when viral agency Rubber Republic were challenged by BBC Radio 4's Today programme to create a viral film for them, after one of their guys was interviewed on there. So far, it hasn't gone massively viral, but it's early days. I think it's quite funny.

P.S. Evan Davis wrote an interesting blog post on his experiences of advertising - apparently he finds us ad people "intimidatingly cool"(?!?!?), and also shares his thoughts on the film. But what do you think?

The Ad Contrarian

Here's a great new blog for you - The Ad Contrarian - whose writer is "the CEO of a pretty big ad agency" and yet is honest enough to complain about Clients who "don't wipe themselves without first researching which hand consumers prefer."

He's wonderfully cranky. In one post, he discusses a plan to cull his facebook friends down to 50, except "every few weeks I'll drop No. 50 and give someone new a chance. If they perform they can stay. If I find out they're branding consultants, or don't drink, or think Whoopi Goldberg is funny, they're gone."

And in another, on corporate brand campaigns, he points out that:

Nobody gives a shit that...

* you believe people are your greatest asset.
* you believe one person can make a difference.
* you think the world needs to be more connected.
* you think we need to preserve our precious resources.
* you think the children are our future.

If I might be allowed to summarize... they've heard it all before and they don't give a shit.

There's even serious stuff too. Check it out.

Oh, and the ad above... is a real ad. For the Ukrainian Army.

Straight8

Those of you who are interested in film-making may want to consider entering Straight8, the competition where you shoot a 3-minute film on a single cartridge of super 8 mm cine film. No editing allowed.

The clip above is pretty funny - it was the 2003 entry by Dave Buonaguidi, a talented creative whose career has encompassed stints CD'ing at St Luke's, 4Creative and Karmarama.

I do hope Stephen Hawking doesn't read this blog. Or his lawyers.

Return Of The 3-Day Week?

>We all know the recession is getting worse. I am hearing about good people - good people - being made redundant.

And now, I have heard that Creatives at one Agency have been put on a 4-day week. Better than redundancies, I suppose, but where will it end? Could we return to the era, last seen when Ted Heath was in power, of the three day week?

And would you go for that... or would you rather take a pay-off and leave?

Glamour

"Whenever I go abroad," writes Bentos, in a comment on the last thread, "all the billboard ads seem to simply be a picture of woman smiling next to the product. All of 'em. Not being able to read the copy probably emphasises the similarity. Then you come back to Britain and notice the exact same thing!"

What do we think about this type of ad? Well, obviously, we think they're shit.

But. I remember one time I went on holiday to Cornwall. It was raining, we were staying in a shitty B&B and feeling miserable. Just then, a L'Oreal ad came on the TV. It was so glamorous, so exciting... presented such an image of perfection... it made me want to buy. And I don't normally even use eyelash-thickening products.

Does sheer glamour sell? I fear it does, doesn't it. I like to think that Scarlett Johansson + Idea would sell more product than Scarlett Johansson + giant packshot, but maybe I'm just living in an ivory tower of idea-obsession, and don't understand the world of fashion advertising...

Top Three Cliches

It is said (by my friend AT) that Larry Barker (former ECD of BMP, and prior to that, WCRS) had only three rules for his Creatives: no chameleons, no mime artists, and no ginger-haired people.

Apparently a team once walked into his office and he blew out their ad before they had even showed it to him, because he could see through the paper that it was a chameleon.

Mind you, this story is a few years old. Maybe the Top 3 Ad Cliches of today would be different. What would you nominate?