Ogilvy’s Scrabble campaign disqualified and replaced as Cannes Press Grand Prix with Almap BBDO’s Billboard campaign
After disqualifying Ogilvy’s Mexico’s Scrabble campaign new Grand Prix winner in the press category is Almap BBDO, Sao Paulo, for its Brazilian “See what music is made of” print campaign for Billboard magazine. The campaign featured pop music stars as a pixilated picture and each star is made up of small pictured of their influences. Bono, for example, is made up of Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Lou Reed and Mother Teresa.
The Scrabble campaign was kicked out just minutes before the presentation started as it was discovered that it is an old campaign that was entered into Cannes last year. (One of the Scrabble executions is shown on the next page of this story)
15 Comments
I’m shocked. Shocked I tell you.
The funny thing is, they turfed it out for being an ‘old ad’, but apparently don’t give a damn that Scrabble is a perennial award winner, yet has never-ever run a fucking ad in the first place.
The fact that scrabble was considered in the first place is a joke!
Did that Scrabble piece win at last year’s Cannes?
If YES, how the hell it gets into this year’s metal winning list?
If NO, how the hell it gets into this year’s metal winning list?
Someone really really need to give a damn good explanation to this.
Interesting that it was in the running last year – but didn’t win.
This year it gets the Grand Prix?
I think it’s high time Scrabble was named advertiser of the decade. So many brilliant campaigns, and all without an actual advertising budget or running any ads. Who else can match that achievement?
Okay, maybe FHM.
From their comments, basically they entered it last year but didn’t leave an explanation of how the idea worked and it didn’t even make the shortlist.
So they re-entered it this year (something they thought as *totally* legal) and it got a Grand Prix.
Ogilvy’s awards at any cost strategy.
Did that Scrabble piece win at last year’s Cannes?
If YES, how the hell it gets into this year’s metal winning list?
If NO, how the hell it gets into this year’s metal winning list?
Someone really really need to give a damn good explanation to this.
(YES, I want to know the explanation to this too!)
Or maybe there wasn’t any jury (juries) that they know last year, so it’s difficult to pull vote. 😉
completely agree with 8.38, 9.21, 10.55, 11.08….
It’s the usual mockery of inadequate juries.
completely agree with 8.38, 9.21, 10.55, 11.08….
It’s the usual mockery of inadequate juries.
@3:49
As 12:17 said, they entered it last year but failed to include an adequate explanation as to what the ads meant and how they worked so they didn’t even get on the shortlist.
They entered them again this year with a better explanation and got a Grand Prix.
Or, as one wag put it, “The ad got entered more times than it ran”.
I always thought great print ads didn’t need to be explained. Fuck me, I have been doing it wrong all these years.
The bigger question is: how do “faces made up of stuff” keep winning year after year?
3:35
Absolutely correct. Unless of course they attached the explaination to the ad when it ran.
Oops, what am I thinking of? Ran?! Sorry, wasn’t thinking.
btw, the idea seems ripped from the guy that wrote an entire book WITHOUT using the letter ‘E’. Not great literature, but you couldn’t help admiring how he kept the joke up for 30,000 words.
.