Cannes Lions has ‘lost its way’ and become a ‘never ending party’ says agency boss
Former CEO of UM Australia Mat Baxter has taken aim at the organisers of the Cannes Lions, claiming the biggest international advertising event has “lost it way” and questioning the value of the “never-ending party” it has become.
Baxter: what should clients make of the ‘never-ending party’ on the French Riviera next week?
In a strongly worded opinion piece published on LinkedIn, Baxter who is serving as a judge for the first time at next week’s Festival, questions where the enormous amounts of money spent on the event are justified and argues that the extravagance of the event may actually be hurting agencies in the eyes of clients.
The New York-based global chief strategy officer of IPG Mediabrands wrote: “As a first-time judge for the upcoming Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, here is my pre-gala verdict: This annual celebration of the best advertising in the world has lost its way.
Agree; we don’t even bother with Cannes anymore. It is a waist of time and money with no benefit at all at the end. I wouldn’t even be able to tell you who the finalists or winners are! #nointerest
to be fair on Mat its a while since he was in the headlines so he must have been suffering from the lack of attention.
The funny Thing is he could have done this initiative without the need to boast about it so publicly.
Kind of runs against his claim of substance over style.
And yet he is still going to attend. Not just the event, but I am guessing numerous parties. Voting with his feet is something Mat appears quite good at.
Then again, things never fell very far south of the good life in the old days, when advertising budgets supported the longest lunches, and the most extravagant junkets since Erich Von Stroheim.
I believe that Cannes, and other things including a sag in creativity, are all part of a general decay, caused by a lack of genuine reckless abandon. Too much emphasis on the wrong bullshit. Behind the scenes there has always been a pretense of solid professionalism and trust, but the rot set in when too many people tried to sell the message that it is real.
Theatre is the skillful manipulation of reality, and advertising is theatre.