Thursday, June 22, 2017

A modest Cannes proposal.

Publicis, the holding company with the ugliest name, announced the other day that the 693 agencies under its hairy corporate umbrella will not be permitted to enter awards shows in 2018.

I am a rare creative in that I don't gives a rat's ass about awards.

Not that I don't have an ego.

But when the awards shows started awarding fake work--or nearly fake work--they became meaningless to me.

When the awards shows started handing out awards by the scores, they became meaningless to me.

When awards, not a client's business success, became the motivating force in our industry, they became meaningless to me.

In any event, let's get back to Publicis.

If I were the bushy-eyebrowed Maurice Levy, or whatever of his acolytes made this fiduciary decision, I would have done so with more balls.

I would have done something with more balls--something simple.

I would have said, "We spent XX on award shows last year. And awards are about us. We want to do something for our industry and the world. Not about us. So we're taking half the money the holding company spent, X, and we're dedicating it to diversity efforts. We will become the most diverse agency network in the world--and in so doing, the best. That is worth more than all the awards we could possibly win."

That would be better for all of us.


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