DIARY: The ad industry makes itself look stupid ... yet again

<p>Continuing the Australian theme (and the boomerang-fancying nation </p><p>does seem to be cropping up in Diary with alarming regularity), another </p><p>example of subtle and understated advertising reaches us courtesy of our </p><p>friends down under. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>This time it's an example of the advertising industry advertising </p><p>itself, in the shape of the YoungGuns International Advertising </p><p>Award. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>A new campaign, to promote the under-30s' award scheme and encourage </p><p>people to enter, depicts some distinctly over-30 creative advertising </p><p>gurus going to desperate lengths in order to appear younger, just so </p><p>that they can enter the Young Guns competition. The first two executions </p><p>are about to be unveiled: one has Warren Brown mounting the pretentious </p><p>creative's vehicle of choice, the two-wheel scooter, and hurtling down a </p><p>steep hill; while the other shows Gary Horners getting a piercing in a </p><p>fairly painful place, and reacting accordingly. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Future executions will involve such luminaries as Steve Henry, John </p><p>Hegarty and David Droga. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>And, true to its status as a creative award scheme, YoungGuns could be </p><p>set to raise the hackles of the media agency community with the </p><p>campaign. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The reason: it's being distributed by viral MPEG, so the media value is </p><p>pretty much zero. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>