Media agency did not book Panasonic’s Cannes Lions winning ad campaign
The media agency which normally buys advertising on behalf of Panasonic has said it did not book any space for the ads that won Australia a rare silver Press Lions in Cannes this month.
One of the Saatchi & Saatchi Panasonic ads
Although brand ads are usually booked through the media agency, Mat Baxter, CEO of UM Australia, after being approached by Mumbrella said that his agency had not done so.
Baxter’s comments comes after readers raised questions with Mumbrella on whether the ads had run in mainstream media.
A constant issue in international awards are “scam” ads, created in order to win advertising awards rather than to solve a business problem. Scam ads either do not run in media at all or are placed cheaply in a minor publication to reach minimum entry requirements.
When approached by Mumbrella Baxter said: “We have reviewed the winning Cannes print work for Panasonic and can confirm that UM did not book any Australian media activity featuring the creative material in question. It is important to note that Panasonic or Saatchi & Saatchi themselves may have booked media space without our knowledge and we would encourage you to reach out directly to both of them for ultimate confirmation.”
Panasonic, and Saatchi & Saatchi has so far declined to disclose where, or if, the three ads – Blissful Dog, Confused Dog and Windblown Dog – ran. Advertising tracking company Ebiquity was also unable to find any trace of them having run in Australia.
Earlier this month, after Mumbrella asked both Panasonic and Saatchi & Saatchi specifically about where the ads ran, the agency issued the following statement:
“The Panasonic Nanoe TM technology for Automotive Airconditioners is one of the most innovative technologies used in the automotive industry. We (Saatchi & Saatchi) developed the dog print ads campaign as a project for Panasonic to demonstrate the benefit of fresher air through this technology in an engaging way that everyone can relate to. The print campaign ran in March and April.”
it did not respond to further requests for clarification.
One of the Saatchi & Saatchi award winning Panasonic ads
It has also emerged that the campaign bears remarkable similarities to a campaign which won gold in the print category of an internal Volkswagen awards in 2009.
The 2009 award winner
Questions have also been asked about DDB Sydney which picked up a bronze in the press category for its Big Mac Legends work for McDonald’s although commenters later suggested that it had not followed the usual brand guidelines. It too has declined to release details around where the campaign ran.
OMD, the agency which handle’s McDonald’s media planning and buying, had not responded to Mumbrella’s inquiries at the time of posting.
Cannes Lions is yet to respond to repeated inquiries from Mumbrella regarding the campaigns.
Miranda Ward
Miranda Ward worked for Mumbrella from 2013 to 2017, eventually becoming deputy editor. Miranda joined Mumbrella in September 2013 from Sky News.
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They rip off an idea and then bullshit about it? And they don’t think that’s going to reflect badly on them and the client?
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Not a good look for UM to come out and say they “did not book the ads”. Why not just stay SILENT? ??
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@Marketer who loves creativity
To be clear, UM responded to a direct request from Mumbrella about the campaign and decided transparency was the best policy.
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Whenever the scam ad topic comes up I always find myself bemused that an ad considered good enough to win/enter an award isn’t considered good enough for the public to actually see.
So what’s wrong in the process from brief to strategy to execution that means we end up with scam ads? And really, who is scamming who here?
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UM are right to comment, it’s not their concern to cover any thing up. If indeed there is anything to cover up. Although if it did run it’s surprising they wouldn’t just say it did.
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Maybe an intern wrote the ad and booked it? It could happen.
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For all industry awards there needs to be the brief; the display ad, script or storyboard; the finished article; an accompanying schedule showing where and when the material was used and a letter of endorsement from the client stating that the campaign was successful or at least delivered some sort of result, preferably accompanied by some type of post campaign research.
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Sadly, more hot air about scam ads rather than why we are here, to put wind in our clients sales. Mixed metaphors leave you cold?
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Better art direction of an idea this time round I must say.
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(moderated by Mumbrella as unable to confirm claim) scam ads do occur and are a part of advertising agency culture. They are rife among some agencies. There really is little attempt to hide it. Saatchi & Saatchi, if guilty, are certainly not alone. Some of the greatest critics of scam ads are serial offenders. Some of the greatest offenders are key judges at Cannes. Keep an eye out for the influx of charities, NFPs or obscure advertisers that appear in cheap, low key, low visibility media in the weeks before big awards. Big brands with small budgets are even more valuable to the avid scammer.
Whats possibly a little worse however is the raft of creative awards accepted by big name agencies and creative directors for the work of freelancers who go uncredited or for work out sourced to small digital businesses who are banned from displaying the work or client logo on their websites or portfolios.
Its systemic but also quire colourful and fun – watching the peacocks flutter around.
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The real question is how did it win an award in the first place?
Creatively, it’s a student ad. But Cannes silver lion? Hardly
Strategically, it’s completely irrelevant. Who buys a car for it’s superior air conditioning? And this time around the ad doesn’t even promote a car brand. Other than the Lexus GS line of course, which is what you’ll have to buy if you want to enjoy this vastly superior Nanoe(!) technology.
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Who gives a s**t about the Cannes print category anyway?
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I used to love award season, we used to get ad bookings from creative agencies trying to book the media themselves. They would always ask for a discount explaining that they were paying for it out of their own pockets, some openly admitting it was for award criteria.
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I remember a full page in the Molong Times in 1980 was really cheap, so cheap the agency or even the client would pay for it.
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