Although I have enjoyed Cannes, met wonderful people and saw some beautiful work, I have often, mostly when at parties, felt uneasy in Cannes. To be more specific, I have felt strangely out of place. Although I saw (and enjoyed the company of) many people I’ve known and appreciated for years, I still felt like a stranger at various moments.  Cannes, by the way, is just a stark illustration: I have, at moments, felt out of place in my industry for quite some time now - and I’ve been wondering what the problem is. I think I’ve found it.

The problem arises when people start talking about the awards: who won what, and how many, how deserved or undeserved it was, how the Belgians are doing, how the Film shortlist was worthless but titanium great, and how can they reduce a brilliant longlist to only 23 Titaniums in a shortlist, or, like in a recent discussion at the CCB awards, what criteria the jury should be using, etc. At these moments - and I can’t help myself - I stare at my conversation partner like a guppie fish. I don’t know what he’s talking about, I don’t know who won what, and I don’t care.

Now, before I go on, let’s make something clear. This is NOT a traditional rant about awards being irrelevant. Read more

Those of you who studied psychology may know the name of Kitty Genovese. For the others, a quick update: Kitty Genovese was a woman in New York who was stabbed to death in a brutal violent scene that lasted over half an hour. During that time, more than twenty people were witnessing the scene from behind their windows, and no one called the police  - that could easily have saved the victim.

This sad story is often used as an illustration of the lack of morality in our society, but has also been the subject of study for may social psychologists who wondered why nobody came to the rescue. The answer, they found, was in a state-of-mind called “bystander apathy“, based on the idea that, surely, “others will  do something“.

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Is Saint-Tropez so chique that even McDonalds has to adapt its corporate colours?

In what must be a sad historical record of hypocrisy in an already hypocritical advertising industry, Unilever tries to convince us that making millions of people watch a live open-heart-operation on tv is a sign of caring and love for the patient, rather than the blatant exploitment of sensation seeking and disaster tourism it is.

It’s in “Meet Wally’s Heart”, it’s for Flora, it’s shortlisted for a Titanium at Cannes, and it’s positively revolting.

Gisterenavond, op de soirée des belges, probeerden twee planners mij ervan te overtuigen dat “vele mensen” teleurgesteld waren omdat ik na de verkiezingen niets meer had gepost over de – teleurstellende – resultaten voor Groen!

Ze hebben gelijk. Het feit dat “vele mensen” betekent “twee planners” doet hier even niet terzake, net zomin als het feit dat het leven gewoon te druk geweest is om ook nog eens te gaan bloggen, de laatste weken. Wat wél terzake doet is mijn overtuiging dat een evaluatie van een campagne met een klant gebeurt, discreet, en niet in een publieke blogpost.

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Voer voor storytelling. Klik op de foto om het hele artikel te lezen.

Een Amerikaans bureau zonder website… het is te zeggen, zonder traditionele website. Ere wie ere toekomt, leuk idee.

Gelijkaardige dingen (zie onderstaande) gaan al een tijdje mee op youtube. Voor de retro arcade gamers onder ons, enjoy!

Ik. Hou. Niet. Zo.

van de Grote

WOORDEN.

Ik. vind ….
het een te

Gemakkelijke
Copywriters
TRUUK.

Om
met behulp van
Dramatische Pauzes
Leestekens
en andere Hulpmiddelen

Doodgewone Woorden
te laten klinken
als

Diepzinnige.

Waarheden.

Ik. Krijg. Dus. Ook. Nogal. De

KRIEBELS

van deze

Spot