Cannes 2016- the lion that roars and claws for attention

From banal to the facile; a review of Cannes Lions thusfar

Cannes Lions has always showcased the best in creative advertising. Each year the event reflects society trends. 2016 is no exception to the rule.

In chandelier adorned halls Creatives and Suits keep fingers crossed, trouser zips in check and lipstick refreshed …all in the hope that they will walk away as champagne winners rather than stumble through the rest of an evening in a drunken stupor.

Behind the scenes, organisers check that entrant ‘invitations’ to submit work have covered costs for food, guest appearances, judge ‘expenses’, photography, staging, hotels and left enough to cover personal executive comfort upgrades.

Beyond behind the scenes smoke and mirrors, the real winners of the Cannes are neither the brands nor agencies that pick up coveted gongs to display in otherwise drab offices (beyond reception areas) or feature in resumes as power-play points for claiming higher salaries. Valiant victors are those with the guts to produce work that resonates with people rather than ticks audited boxes calculated by exclusively by computed numbers rather than gut instinct.

Is there anybody out there?

In recent years contenders for Cannes have submitted ‘disruptive advertising’ which breaks rules by interrupting advertising wallpapered banality. But surely all great advertising, marketing and PR has to stand above the crowd?

Even traditionally sober business-to-business advertising that is crammed with platitudinous headlines and visual soundbites aimed to tug the purse strings of the least creative link in most legal organisations - CFOs - require a modicum of originality beyond run of the mill creative mulch such as “the tools to orchestrate your network”, or “end to end solutions for start to finish innovation” ‘Inspiratioal innovation”….(blah, blah, handshaking people with Joker painted grins via photo stock pictures, yada, yada…).

Overkilling the messenger

Gross dependence on integrated campaigns traversing cross platform online and offline channels, endanger any initial impact of true disruptive advertising. Crossing so many platforms, an original decent idea gets passed round in an orgy of viral spreading intent. What was once a seductive, witty, insightful, charming, curious… concept often degenerates into yet another example of an over cooked idea, so digitally dilapidated, even its core message becomes reduced to a couple of words skewered on a hashtag for the BBQ of brand vanities.

This year’s mercenaries

As in previous years, many of Canne’s 2016 campaigns feature storytelling. This time. many are given the added spurious endorsement of having claims verified by a mix of social media feedback,trumped up algorithms and - new for 2016 - Kickstarter styled demonstrations filmed as showings at half-empty cinemas to out of work extras who appear to have got the gig via sites like Star Now.

Forget the cute kittens, this product needs the terminally ill

In an act of self flagellation over global brand insincerity, a common theme this year exploits otherwise serious, often terminal causes. The idea being to suggest that brands in ivory towers are, in truth, on the side of victims in tenement blocks - e.g. the objectified woman, the insecure teenager and most cynical of all, children with terminal diseases… (Watching such material in the name of this article was particularly odious).

Mes premiers six nominations

So what pretentious goodies did this year’s Cannes Lions deliver? My top six personal choices - in no particular order of merit are:

… For blatant rather than modest demonstration of how wonderfully charitable a brand is, whilst simultaneously managing to exploit children’s cancer to desperately save dwindling print media advertising sales:

HOPE FOR SALE FUNDACIÓN INTROS TAPSA | Y&R

Intheos // Hope For Sale castellano from Tapsa | Y&R on Vimeo.

For exploiting young interns jacked up with useless marketing qualifications, degrees and mounting debts who would do anything to get a job in a pretentious advertising agency:

SURVIVAL BILLBOARD MICROSOFT McCANN LONDON

For confirming middle class people suppress sexual thoughts when driving very cramped cars....

MOST OPEN TEST DRIVE DAIMLER AG, SMART BBDO GROUP GERMANY

For algorithm supplemented induced 1960s psychedelic hallucinations from a toilet air freshener in a pop up tent:

MUSEUM OF FEELINGS SC JOHNSON

For attempting to distract from Will Smith’s movie ‘Concussion’:

SUPER BOWL BABIES CHOIR GREY NEW YORK

For demonstrating infographics are dead; long live edible pie charts for the consumer prepared to swallow political facts about how awful their lives have became - as long as they get a mention on Facebook:

BITTERSWEET PIES McCANN WORLDGROUP ROMANIA, MRM//McCANN

For a timely tribute to the outrageous Orlando nightclub massacre:

GUN CRAZY GREY NEW YORK

Special mention goes to ASB Bank for a commercial explaining what real money is to children destined never see or touch actual coinage in their lifetime:

CLEVER KASH ASB BANK SAATCHI & SAATCHI

In conclusion, once again Cannes proves that the difference between art imitating life, and life imitating art is difficult to separate. In both cases its never a pretty picture - unless shot in hi-def, preferably in black and white featuring a sick child, lie-tester machine, racial reference in the script, screen grabs of social media testimonials and a Seal soundtrack sung by the progeny of drunk parents after watching the Super Bowl.