New York Festivals speak out on scam ads

In light of the recent “scam ad” scandal, and the One Show’s tough response, the New York Festivals has also entered the fray with a statement on the issue. Festival President, Michael O’Rourke commented today that “New York Festivals has long been aware of and proactively involved in preventing so-called “scam-ads” – ads that ran without the consent of the client or were lifted from other agencies.”

According to O’Rourke: “Our first line of defense is our online judging system. We’ve found that having judges together in the same room in an isolated resort location can have a chilling effect on diligence.  Its human nature: no one wants to accuse an agency or creative team, especially if the person you’re accusing is a friend or associate of someone in the room”.

“New York Festivals initiated a system whereby GrandJury™ judges areallowed to “flag” a suspected scam ad simply by checking a box whenviewing an entry online. Additionally, NYF judges are encouraged towrite confidential comments online to support their suspicions.  Uponbeing flagged, we will commence an investigation into the allegations.”

O’Rouke said in the past few years New York Festivals hasdenied entries or disqualified them based on the evidence collectedfrom judges: “As a truly international show – we have entries from over71 countries – we applaud more recent efforts, like those of the OneShow to prevent scam ads from being awarded and hope that other awardshows follow suit on these aggressive and very necessary approachestowards eliminating scam,” he said.