Andrew Simon is the chief creative officer at Cundari in Toronto
June was a special time. Not only because of all the wild National Accordion Awareness month celebrations that brought our global productivity to a standstill, but also thanks to a little award show called Cannes. We were consumed by it. Pre-Cannes predictions.
Predictions about the predictions. Who won what, how many they won, who was stripped of their Grand Prix for a lucky fish that was anything but, and who took partying to a whole new level.
What really struck me wasn’t just the amazing work that took home gold, silver or bronze. It was the work that didn’t. As I perused the rows and rows of creative in various categories, I was taken with what was deemed worthy of a shortlist, but not quite good enough for anything greater.
Like Hungry Jack’s who wanted to help folks who enjoy their french fries in the great outdoors so it created a poster and packaging with a special holographic visual treatment that refracted sunlight to scare away birds. And apparently, judges as well.
A Glad Cling Wrap billboard was covered with 680 orange slices, some of them wrapped with the product, some not. As time passed, the slices not in Cling Wrap changed colour creating the headline “Fresh Longer.” Sorry, not fresh enough.
The list of “losers” continues. To get parents in India to consider a long-term mutual fund, IDFC created ‘Dreams on Swaddles.’ Distributed to select hospitals, blankets were printed with the body imagery of a doctor, astronaut and pilot symbolizing the bright future ahead for the baby. Then there was Coca-Cola’s #MashupCoke project – 130 artists, designers and illustrators from 15 countries re-imagined vintage Coca-Cola bottle imagery and iconography with the results featured in an art exhibit, limited-edition book, and of course social media.
Nothing. Nada.
As if people needed another reason to drink excessively during Cannes week. So what does this tell us? The international bar is really high. Sky high. It takes very special work to actually win a Lion. Too often, we delude ourselves into thinking that pretty darn good is great. It’s not. It’s pretty darn good.
If your work isn’t extraordinary, all you’re doing is lining the pockets of the Festival organizers who are richer than you think. And just because it’s stellar for one category doesn’t mean it will automatically win across the board. Everyone will remember that Droga5’s ‘Band of Brands’ for Newcastle in which they enlisted 38 other brands to share the cost of a Super Bowl spot won a Titanium Gold Lion. But nobody will talk about the fact it was also entered into the Media competition and went trophy-less. Similar story for Expedia’s Thrown Back Thursdays with those entering their Summer contest on Instagram and Twitter having the opportunity to recreate their fave photo by flying back to the location with all the people in the shot. It won silver in the brand spanking new Creative Data category, but earned just a shortlist in Direct.
I celebrate the shortlisted because it’s a reminder of what it takes to win an actual trophy. Once Cannes ends, we become quickly immersed in the stresses of the everyday. It’s too easy for ordinary to become acceptable. If you eat a ton of fast food burgers, you quickly forget what prime rib tastes like.
Don’t forget what it takes to win a Lion. If you continually push for the extraordinary, a year from now you’ll be walking down the red carpet of the Palais or if you so choose, having sex on it.
