VIEWPOINT: Cannes fiasco casts new cloud over Asia

<p>For the second year running, there's a whiff of controversy </p><p>surrounding the Asia-Pacific region's less-than sparkling performance at </p><p>Cannes. Indeed, even before the region has had a chance to live down </p><p>last year's scandal involving the Taronga Zoo entry, another one is </p><p>threatening to raise a new stink. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The question on the industry's mind is: did Ogilvy & Mather Singapore </p><p>take home prizes for a scam campaign and work that had been allegedly </p><p>plagiarised? O&M insists it's done nothing wrong on either the work for </p><p>Guinness or the Churches of the Love Singapore Movement. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However loudly it may shout its case, the agency's submission of the </p><p>Guinness campaign remains highly questionable, especially since the work </p><p>broke well after the account had been globally re-aligned. Here's the </p><p>plot so far: the client says it did ask for the campaign, but didn't </p><p>approve its rollout as the creative was completed after the </p><p>re-alignment. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Despite this, O&M proceeded to run the campaign on behalf of two Gaelic </p><p>Inns pubs, which reportedly paid for the ad. If Gaelic coughed up the </p><p>cash for the media, why did O&M then see fit to list Asia-Pacific </p><p>Breweries as a client? A clerical error when something so big is at </p><p>stake is going to be a difficult explanation to swallow. O&M is not </p><p>going to shake off this controversy easily. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The industry at large is suspicious of what it feels is the O&M </p><p>network's cavalier attitude to scam ads. It's a suspicion nurtured by </p><p>past comments made by the network's global creative chief Neil French on </p><p>the issue. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>French famously said: "Who cares if a few scams win awards. " (media, </p><p>November 10, 2000). Opinions on O&M's conduct can swing either way. That </p><p>the agency was simply being proactive by not letting a good piece of </p><p>work go to waste, or that it sold a campaign to an unwitting third party </p><p>in order to enter Cannes. There are no easy answers, but the cloud </p><p>hanging over the win is yet another black mark on the integrity of </p><p>Asia's advertising work. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>