OPINION: Awards shows are not a game

I was very disappointed with Neil French's article on the scam ads

issue (MEDIA, November 10), especially from someone who has built his

reputation in Asia and now doing bigger things in the world.

His words potentially have such influence in Asia that I feel obliged to

clear the air.

The only thing I agree with Neil is that our clients are confirming

their suspicions that advertising people are self-centered,

self-admiring children who care more about their own little world than

they do about doing a good job for the people who pay them.

This is what I call the "You pay, I play" attitude that is plaguing the

Asian advertising community.

Maybe this was once the way in in Asia, but it is people like myself who

are doing our best to clear the reputation of those advertising

professionals who take their jobs seriously.

Unless we take our work seriously, we will not be taken seriously.

Unless we take our jobs seriously, we cannot attract the best talent or

raise standards.

I cannot agree that awards are just a game, a sideshow. If that were the

case, there would not have been such a big scandal at the latest Cannes

show.

Maybe, as Neil has suggested, we should legitimise scam ads but I would

ask for this to be identified correctly and honourably.

I would be more than happy to endorse a ScamFest, inviting Neil to be

the lifetime chairman.

Let's be real about what agency management does withawards tallies. I

challenge every agency chief in Asia, and the world for that matter, to

prove that they do not use creative awards as their selling point. We

should. But we should present them with a clean conscience, knowing that

the ads are legitimate.

Finally, I salute those agency teams that believe in creating real work

for real clients - Sunday, by BBDO; Vitasoy, by Saatchis; and the Nokia

and Heineken work by my humble agency. What's more, we can all sleep

better at night, knowing that our reputations have not been built on

scam ads.