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