Seriously now…where and when were these ads published? No one is questioning the creativity of the concepts (as it is very much a subjective matter according to most critiques) nor is anyone questioning the quality of execution. What is being questioned is the legitimacy of participating with ghost ads (ads that never ran or ads that ran once due to loopholes in the awards criteria) and if they should be allowed to compete with real ads (ads that ran for real, for real clients without any special doctoring for the awards). In my personal view the playing field should be leveled and everyone should play by the rules. It is not accepted to win by any means and take the industry for granted, risk the reputation of the award organizers (as happened in the Dubai Lynx scandal also known as the Lynx Gate). Winning by cheating has a snowball effect, they win, then publicize their win thorough PR and Advertising campaigns, which attracts more clients (depriving you from a fair chance at winning business). Your friends in the industry risk becoming redundant while copycats are get promoted and earn the big bucks as a result of either ignorance of their management or consent of their upper management!!!
Archive for the 'Ghost Ads' Category
Politically incorrect creativity
Copycats love fresh fish
Client: M&J Seafood
Country: UK
Year: 2011
NB. Almost won a Best of Show in the Print category 😉
Source: Classic John West ad recycled / Une histoire de “suiveurs”
A political spoof/Ghost ad expressing the situation in Egypt. Commercial ads featuring politician figures are not a new thing. For other examples of spoof ads featuring politicians please check the following links Ideas? Where’s your creativity? and Drivers wanted
The above is screen shoot of the “Artist” Deviant Art page caprozo911 http://caprozo911.deviantart.com/gallery/#_featured , notice that 85% of his work is either copycat, cliche’ or ghost ads!!! We have featured Seif’s “work” in the past in seperat posts so I will not duplicate the effort. Instead I will just post the links to the above examples from this blog and you can draw your own conclusions.
This is what happens when you copy and paste
Self portrait of the “Designer” wearing his crown with the GAP logo which we all know is an abbreviation of Guy And Proud.
Here is yet another intresting e-mail sent in by Kris which I would like to share with everyone with a Talent….
Hi Louai …
“BEAUTIFUL REPRODUCTION” of the french ad … http://anorudo61.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d2d7t8x
same concept … The text actually is a English translation of the French ad … Can You believe this? (how your perception changes when you drink and drive)
THE United Nation ad is the Not-So-Original ONE … found on the deviant art page of a “Creative” from Talent Ad Agency Kuwait … http://caprozo911.deviantart.com/gallery/
And the Funny comment under the ad … This ad was a “Gift for [ United Nations Road Safety Collaboration ]” …
Did i mention the “Talent” guy doesn’t know how “pirson” (PRISON) is spelled … lol …
GOOD JOB TALENT!!! You “didn’t” it again!!!
Client: “Fake” UN
Agency: Talent
“Fake” Designer: Seif El Degwi
Country: Kuwait
Upon doing some more investigation into this copycat crime I dug up the original ad. So its officially Safe to communicate the fact that Seif El Degwi copied the copier of the original ad which was first published in India as per the following details. So he (Seif) copied the copied idea, the headline and the art direction!!!!!!!!!
Don’t Drink and Drive
Advertiser: Triumph Distillers & Vintners
Agency: SSC&B Lintas
Country: India.
The above example is published in the ACT (Advertising Community Together) Responsible advertising exhibition, 2006 booklet. the exhibition was held in Kuwait here is a link IAA Kuwait presents 2008 ACT expo advertising for a better world
WWF 9/11
Source: Scammers to be banned from One Show for five years
The One Show has said it will ban agencies for five years if found guilty of creating fake ads following yet another awards scam controversy.
DDB Brazil’s ‘Tsunami’ ad for the World Wildlife Fund, which was ousted as a scam and condemned as “offensive and tasteless” by the WWF, has caused an outcry in the US and forced the WWF to issue an apology.
The print advert showed dozens of planes heading for New York landmarks, with the copy: “The tsunami killed 100 times more people than 9/11. The planet is brutally powerful. Respect it. Preserve it.”
Critics rushed to condemn the ad – which won a merit at this year’s One Show – as trivialising 9/11 and causing offence to victims’ families.
The outcry is reminiscent of FP7 Doha’s ‘Jesus’ ad for Samsung, which caused a religious fall-out in Lebanon and was ousted as a scam earlier this year after the Dubai Lynx. Samsung was also forced to issue a statement saying: “The company did not commission, develop or approve the publishing of the religiously insensitive advertisements.”
The One Show statement says: “In the light of the recent events surrounding the “Tsunami Ad” created by DDB Brazil for WWF, the One Club announces today that we will implement what we believe to be the most stringent and thorough “fake ads” policy in our industry.
The One Club defines “fake ads” as: ads created for nonexistent clients or made and run without a client’s approval, or ads created expressly for award shows that are run once to meet the requirements of a tear sheet.
For 2010 and onwards, the One Show will be adopting the following new rules and penalties.
1. An agency or regional office of an agency network that enters an ad made for nonexistent clients, or made and run without a client’s approval, will be banned from entering the One Show for 5 years.
2. The entire team credited on the “fake” entries will be banned from entering the One Show for 5 years.
3. An agency or regional office of an agency network that enters an ad that has run once, on late night TV, or has only run because the agency produced a single ad and paid to run it themselves*, will be banned from entering The One Show for 3 years.
* The One Club reserves the right to review ‘late-night, ran-once’ and launch versions, at The One Club’s discretion. If it is determined that the ad was created expressly for award show entry, the penalty will hold.”
Scam/ghost ads…translate to “the end justifies the means” such ads are not approved by clients, never got published, cause harm to the brand; all of this is committed in the name of creativity… just to sneak into award shows in the hope of winning!!! The only thing such ads win is despise from the professional advertising community and lack of respect so we are in favor of the new rules; as the industry evolves, so must the rules and regulations governing award shows without being spurred by yet another mega scandal. I had posted something on this topic in October 2008, so this incident could have been avoided If only people would wise up. here is the link http://bloganubis.com/2008/10/01/insensitive/
the follwoing was also posted on http://ads.chiquiworld.com/2009/08/29/the-history-channel-3/ why no one has objected to it?!!!
And here is another example…Hard-hitting new ad for The Gut Foundation, created by Banjo advertising. If 12 Australians died in a terror attack it would be front page news, so why isn;t bowel cancer?
or why has no one complained about this one also?!!! http://bloganubis.com/2008/04/10/o-ida-khaleej-times-ash/
Source: Cancer ad features terror attack on Sydney
Khaleej TimesTitle: 5.4 million Die of smoking related causes every year. That’s 2000 times a 9/11″
Agency: Precept Gulf
Copy: Sudeep John Koshy
A D: Prashant Yeware
UAE – 2007
Client: ODIA
Title: “The cigarret kills a hundred times more than terrorism”
Agency : Elipse
2005 – Rio (Brazil)
ASHTitle: “Terrorism-related
deaths since 2001 : 11,377.
Tobacco-related deaths
since 2001 : 30,000,000″
Agency: DDB
New Zealand – 2008
Related links on this blog:
Truth in advertising
Smoking ghost
Advertising: agency: Talent CS, Kuwait.
Art Director: Saif El-degwi.
Frustrated “creative directors” in Kuwait continue in their bad habits of creating Ghost ads and Copy-cat ads which they then enter in all kinds of creativity awards to compete unethically with real work. It was people with this kind of low ethics that led to the Dubai Lynx scandal and it seems the industry is still full of them.
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