Misha McDonald’s Cannes Diary: Day 1 – 4

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MISHA (2).jpgMisha McDonald (left), creative director at TBWA\Sydney is sitting on the Cannes Outdoor Lions jury. Here McDonald writes about his first 4 days on the judging panel, exclusively for Campaign Brief.

Day 1

It’s war!

Burger wars.

Cola wars.

Coffee wars.

Even Lego and Play-Doh have turned the playground into a battlefield fighting for the Lions.

But generally, everyone’s fighting the good fight – trying to make the world a better place one category at a time…

Fighting for gender equality.

Fighting for marriage equality.

It’s all good.

But man, The ‘Burger Wars’ are awesome this year. The fast food brawl has never been so fun to watch…

Ronald and the The King are at it – and this year the gloves are off!

Who’s going to win? Too early to say. I’d say Ronald is in a bit of a pickle. The King is giving him a good grilling.

But fuck me, here comes the Colonel giving them both a good battering. I’m lovin it.

‘Outdoor’ so far has been outstanding…

Stoked to be here with a Jury of 10 legendary people from around the globe spending all day indoors talking about what’s outdoors.

Nice one D-Lo 😉

^^!$#@

LE MISHA (1).jpgDay 2

We ALL see it and the room goes quiet…

An idea that makes our ‘beeping’ devices stop.

It’s a killer idea – but with one major catch – the art direction is shite.

It’s BEAUTIFUL and DISGUSTING at the same time.

You LOVE it sooooo much – but CANT vote it. It’s like seeing a cheerleader on meth.

Like James Bond driving a Toyota Corolla.

The idea has the soul of an angel – but the face of Apex Twin.

If there was a category called – I WISH I’D DONE THAT – WITH ANOTHER ART DIRECTOR’ there’d be lots of Copper Lions awarded this year.

Then there’s the opposite – The terrible idea that looks totally NEXT LEVEL. There are some incredible art directors out there that can not only ‘polish a turd’ – but roll it in glitter.

But DIESEL has taught us a valuable lesson here today… Sometimes mixing RIGHT with WRONG can actually work it’s ass off in fashion – as we ‘Embrace the Flaw’ 😉

SEAN PENN.jpgDay 3

Hanging with Sean Penn*

*Not really Sean Penn.

It’s Colin from Alt (Film craft judge, pictured left).

He gets it a lot.

In fact, when he passed-out here at the Carlton last year he woke up with strangers lining-up taking selfies with him.

Segue alert! Just like ole mate Colin looks hella close to another legend, our Jury is seeing a lot of work that looks very similar to other work in the same categories.

NOTHING to do with plagiarism here – just the fact that ideas from around the globe can sometimes land in the same place… This is where it’s really down to ‘who did it best’?

Also, iconic city landmarks and monuments have become the new canvas:

Think Venus de Milo with robotic arms.

Think famous statues with Kiss makeup.

Think Dublin bridge becoming an interactive harp.

Think New York subways becoming art galleries.

Noice.

Wait! Gotta go join Colin!

He just got a free bottle of 180 Euro Carlton ‘grape juice’ – compliments of some adoring fans sitting at the other table.

^^!$#@

Screen Shot 2018-06-18 at 2.02.45 am.jpgDay 4

Meet the French Marlboro Man.

It translates to ‘smoking makes it harder for you to get it up’.

What’s even harder – is getting your work up in Cannes.

So, to those who made it to a finalist today, well done!

Tomoz is last day where finalists convert to hard metal.

There’s only one thing harder than a Lion – and that’s the stale baguettes in our hotel.

But seriously…

If you’ve made it this far as a finalist, you’ve done the hard yards –  it’s awesome work and you should be proud az.

It’s made it past THOUSANDS of entries from every corner of the world.

It’s been

scrutinised

debated

loved and hated

off the table

then reinstated

until 10 judges all related

– so be elated.

It means your work has originality, craft, purpose, and magic juice that moves our industry forward in the best ways possible.

It’s 1am here and my hotel is next door to the Carlton, which is now HEAVING with LOUD thirsty industry people flooding in from everywhere. The room doors don’t block out the sound – so maybe there is something harder than getting a Lion

– getting to sleep.

^^!$#@