HK4As chief Yu slams Singapore over effort to stamp out scam ads

<p>A war of words has erupted between the Hong Kong and Singapore 4As, </p><p>following a call by Hong Kong 4As chairman Jeffrey Yu for tougher </p><p>measures across Asia-Pacific to clamp down on scam ads. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>At the recent 4As Creative Awards in the SAR, Mr Yu said that awards </p><p>were meticulously screened to ensure that no scam ads made it to the </p><p>judging stage. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, he singled out Singapore for not doing enough. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"(In Hong Kong) most of the awards have been awarded to creative work </p><p>for major clients; not piddly little things like restaurants and </p><p>hairdressers in Singapore," he said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>He later told MEDIA that restaurants and hairdresser clients are key </p><p>targets for scam ads. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"At the Hong Kong 4As, we are determined to stop scam ads as much as </p><p>possible. However, this is not the case with the Singapore Creative </p><p>Circle Award - I understand that 70 per cent of the entries are scam </p><p>ads," said Mr Yu, who is also the president of Bates Asia. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The Singapore 4As president Bernard Chan hit back describing the charges </p><p>against Singapore as "nonsense". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Some people like to cause trouble and I think my counterpart in Hong </p><p>Kong is one of them," he said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We don't care about who the client is or the size of the campaign. What </p><p>we care about is that if the rules are abided by then everyone should </p><p>have an opportunity to win awards. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We support everybody. We represent everybody. We plan to stay </p><p>representative and ensure a level playing field," said Mr Chan, also the </p><p>managing director of DNC Worldwide Partners in Singapore. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The Hong Kong 4As awards co-chairman and Leo Burnett head of creative </p><p>Eddie Booth said that dubious ads were screened out by local judges </p><p>through the checking of tear sheets and media schedules. About one per </p><p>cent of entries looked like scam ads, he said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The association in the Lion City - which is staging its Creative Circle </p><p>Awards presentation in October with a record 1,300 entries - said it </p><p>employed independent auditors, according to 4As executive director </p><p>Florence Oh. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Mr Yu admitted that his comments would raise controversy between Hong </p><p>Kong and Singapore, but added that "this is an issue we need to discuss </p><p>openly ... I don't want Asia to be known for fake goods and fake </p><p>ads". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Saatchis regional ECD Craig Davis, who led his agency to victory at the </p><p>Creative Circle Awards last year, said, "I can't comment on the overall </p><p>proportion of suspect entries at the Singapore awards in previous </p><p>years. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But I do know last year the jury was very tough on the legitimacy of </p><p>entries." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>(See also page 8). </p><p><BR><BR> </p>