Cause for Awards

An art director's portfolio, loosely resembling an issue of "Luerzer's Archive Magazine" recently made its way into our agency. You know the type of book I'm referring to? Filled with "how'd they sell that concept?" type of concepts. Double page spreads. Full-bleed images. Short headlines (translations and body copy sold-separately). Nano-sized, bottom-right-hand-corner-logos. And all the creative freedom in the world. So much so, they are even choosing which clients they work for. But there's a catch.

According to the portfolio's owner, all of this takes place after 5pm. See from 9-5, the agency's management team has the creatives work for paying clients– clients with real world marketing problems and real world requests. Requests such as "can you make the headline more telegraphic, the copy longer, the logo bigger and the picture, well do we really need a picture?" (Needless to say none of that work made it in her book). But after 5pm, the creatives are told to shift focus and to concept on fake client briefs, for clients who in reality, aren't even clients. The agency picks random, non-profit causes to create ads for with one goal in mind, enter the work in the Cannes Advertising Festival and win.

As an art director, I'm the first one to endorse award shows. I'd much rather be writing an acceptance speech than writing this article. Maybe my mom is partially to blame. I grew up with her hanging my work, who am I kidding calling it work, my kiln-burned, rainbow-colored magnetic bull-shit all over the refrigerator. "Mom's kitchen" fed our family and my ego for almost 22 years. And living on my own, like many of my young creative cohorts, I'm in constant search of that same attention and recognition.

But agency led, award quota mandates are spreading the wrong message, as well as negative, self-absorbed energy throughout our communications community. How can our hearts be in the right place if we are only working for these causes to win awards? Do we even care about the issues we are so cleverly communicating? Do we even understand them? How many of us have ever met the people behind these causes (the marketing directors, the scientists, the researchers and grass root supporters) who we claim to be helping? How many of us, rather than bring impossible to produce, off-strategy creative to the Cannes jury table, have actually listened to a local non-profit's problems and brought viable creative solutions to their table?

Comments

[mimster da teamster]

A bit too preachy no?

Who are you to criticize a creative for producing work for pure recognition in hopes for fame and money, you self-righteous back stabber!

But I agree…that’s useless bullshit.

I would not go as far as visiting a local non-profit to fish for a project listening to ever sob story because god knows how unorganized non-profits are. But I would be open to putting my skills to use and not just for fame and money. Ok maybe just fame….and a bit of money.