Canada’s poor showing on the TV shortlist was a major topic of discussion last
night at the annual Thursday night Canada
party here at Cannes.
Last year, Downtown
Partners alone had 11 ads on the shortlist. This year, there was a grand total
of nine spots from Canada,
and no agency got more than one nomination. I'm told that's down from 44 on last year's shortlist and 54 the year before.
After a few beers,
creatives were happy to gripe about the sorry state of Canadian TV ads. Some
grumbled that marketers are importing too many ads from the U.S. and aren’t
willing to take enough creative risks. Others said the embarrassing results
have them fired up to go home and create the kind of work that will conquer Cannes next year.
How does Canada’s
showing so far compare with other countries? With 14 medals and just nine
commercials on the TV shortlist, we’re far behind industry heavyweights like
the United States and England. Canada’s showing compares more with India’s. I know
this because I just had a chat with an Indian reporter who was upset that her
country has earned just 12 medals and has only five spots on the TV shortlist.
Later this weekend, I speak
with Judy John, the lone Canadian judge on the TV jury. You will be able to listen
to that interview in audio form at www.globeandmail.com/cannes.
That’s also where you can
listen to several other feature interviews, including one with controversial
adman Neil French. Eight months after controversial comments about women in
advertising led to him leaving his job as worldwide creative director for WPP
Group, French isn’t backing down.
