cannes

CANNES WITH NEW POLICY TOWARDS FRAUDSTERS

ⓘ This post has been automatically translated from Spanish using DeepL API.

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“We’re about celebrating the good, not about denigrating the bad,” said Terry Savage at the last meeting of Cannes representatives in London. At the same time, he returned to the subject of scams to review Cannes’ new policy on this much-debated issue. As President of the Cannes Lions International Festival, however, he clarified that his role is not one of policing or meddling, although it is one of vigilance.

The new policy, inserted below and posted on the Cannes Lions global site, clearly states conditions for a legitimate entry, such as that it must have been mostly paid for by the client, as well as requiring names and contacts of the client on the registration form. Cannes reserves the right to make any necessary inquiries to verify with the client all information entered.

Cannes Lions has withdrawn many lions in the face of proven frauds, although Savage said it is difficult on a case-by-case basis and investigations can easily take three months. Although it has been impossible to screen without errors, Cannes is one of the strictest organizations inclined to punish cheating, despite the difficulty of defining the concept itself.

In fact, at the last meeting there was again a discussion on the eternal question, “What is a trucho?”, or, “What does an entry require to be 100% legitimate?”. The truth is that a trucho is difficult to detect, just as it is easy to understand that they all tend to be agency initiatives.

As it is, the introduction of a penalty for registrants in the file, as well as the introduction of as much detail of the client involved, required with their approval and investment, are some of the conditions that the new Cannes policy on truants now brings us.

Of course, Savage recognizes that “made the rule, made the trap”, and that it will be very difficult to stop anyone who wishes to enter even with a trucho. Given that it is a moving target, it is extremely difficult that there is no way or formula to send to participate what has not been paid for by the client, what does not even have a client or what the head of the agency does not even know about. Having said that, I personally live in the middle of the dilemma and clearly I cannot find a line that separates black from white.

I invite you to review it in detail, as there would be many winners from past years that would conflict with this policy today. Lest a future winner may suffer the fate of those disqualified in the past, with the damaging effects on the personal and business prestige of the offenders.

Although it has always been a subject even for humor in advertising, as this Dentsu Malaysia ad from ten years ago reminds us.

Here’s the new policy at Cannes.

STATEMENT FROM CANNES LIONS ON “SCAM” ENTRIES

London, 14 October 2009 – Following detailed consultation and discussion with industry leaders, the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival wishes to make clear its policy on entries into its Festivals which breach the rules.

There are many definitions of “scam”, and the issue is rarely black and white. As such, we want to develop a policy that is not only workable but also enforceable.

The role of Cannes Lions and its associated Festivals (Eurobest, Dubai Lynx and Spikes Asia) is to set the benchmark for creativity in communications, to celebrate creativity and to reward the industry for outstanding creative work.

Our role is not to come between the client and the agency; it is not to have a negative material effect on agency business; and it is not to penalise individuals from an agency who have not had any association with the work in question.

Our key rules in this regard are simple: “Entries cannot be made without the prior permission of the advertiser/owner of the rights of the advertisement. All entries must have been made within the context of a normal paying contract with a client. That client must have paid for all, or the majority of, the media costs.”

It is our policy that when a piece of work comes into question, we request clarification or further information according to the complaint raised. If it is not forthcoming or not adequate, we withdraw the award.

In future we will continue to withdraw awards that do not meet our entry criteria and announce that we have done so.

Our entry criteria include:

– Submitting full client details (including name, position and full contact details)
– A senior officer (CD, CEO or Chairman) from the entrant company must authorise the entry

Our checks include:

– That the client is legitimate and that the product corresponds with their portfolio
– Judges are offered the opportunity to raise queries with the organisers and information is gathered accordingly throughout the judging (media schedules, client authorisation, etc.)

We believe that banning agencies from entering on a wholesale basis is unfair on blameless individuals. There are many people who work in agencies who may not be involved with an erroneous entry and therefore should not be penalised. Our policy will be to ban the individuals named on the credit list if a scam is discovered.

The length and nature of the ban will be decided based on the seriousness of the case involved. We take the view that not all issues are the same and each case should be dealt with on its own merits.

In summary, the key issues which will guide us through this process are:

1) Was the work approved and paid for by the client and was it run using media space paid for by the client?
2) If an entry fails to meet this or other entry criteria, we will withdraw the award and make an appropriate announcement.
3) If we deem it is required, we will ban the individuals involved from entering our awards for a specific period of time which will be decided at that time.

Terry Savage

ⓘ This post has been automatically translated from Spanish using DeepL API.

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