The Value of Something Definite

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187214_ce7e4984c35749a096d259dee7287291.jpgBy Jonathan Kneebone (left), founder, The Glue Society, exclusive to Campaign Brief

Imagine an adland that played by the rules of Trump.

Carlsberg would definitely be the best lager in the world. Whiskas would be loved by ten out of ten owners, even those who didn’t have a cat, let alone a preference. VW – or perhaps Apple – might encourage us to Think Bigly. And there’d be no doubt in anyone’s mind that Anadin works fastest. No ifs or buts or drinking Bacardi about it.

In a world of fake emergencies or convenient lies (as opposed to inconvenient truths), would advertising need to be bothered about being legal, decent, honest and truthful?

Without self-imposed restrictions, scientific proofs or objectively curated comparisons, could we just go ahead and declare superiority without resorting to advertising wizardry.

We’d be left with claims without the cunning or the craft.

Heineken’s available everywhere. Snickers cures hunger. Domestos kills germs.

Speaking of which, during the President’s alleged favourite TV show, Fox and Friends, one of the hosts, Pete Hegseth, made this recent admission.

 

“I don’t think I’ve washed my hands in 10 years. Germs are not a real thing. I can’t see them, therefore they’re not real.”

I doubt he’s seen his own or indeed the President’s brain, so perhaps we are entitled to draw our own conclusions.

But given the recent floods, fires, hurricanes, dust storms and droughts, and the undeniable damage they’ve caused, climate change becomes a slightly harder thing to claim ignorance of. (Ignorance being the operative word.)

We’re living in a world of increasing confusion and even things which seem foolproof or absolute are now questionable and open to interpretation.

According to statistics (a classically unreliable source), there are an increasing number of people who think the moon landing was faked. Some people think people have walked on the moon. Some people think that it’s all a myth. Some think just the filming of the landing was faked. Some people who have walked on the moon say it wasn’t.

Who’s right and who’s wrong? Is everyone entitled to their opinion?

Is it ok to say that germs can’t exist because you can’t see them when scientists with relatively tried and trusted equipment have seen them and have proved they can kill people?

Is it ok to refute climate change when environmentalists suggest the polar opposite? Or what’s left of the polar opposite at least.

And before we bogged down in science, what about the arts?

Is Lady Gaga really a better actress than Glenn Close? Is Bradley Cooper truly a better director than Alfonso Cuaron? Is Bohemian Rhapsody a better film than The Favourite?  

And does popular opinion count for more than a bunch of professional personal opinions, when said professionals may be receiving some incentive to think a certain way?

In advertising, we’ve started to want absolutes about creativity also. But the methodology for counting up awards may or may not be the most valid.

Agency A want to be able to tell their clients they are a better agency than Agency B, but maybe they just spent more on entries this year. Or had a more compelling case study. Or a few more friends on the juries. Or maybe they just are better.

In truth, we probably don’t need to know who’s better. What is useful is to know if something is good, great or profound.

It helps to have a standard. It helps to have someone other than yourself judge your work.

It helps to know where you stand. And it helps to encourage you to push yourself. It helps to make us say, ‘Wow, I wish I’d thought of that’ or ‘I had no idea an idea could be that moving or motivating or mindblowing.’

And there is an award show which thinks rather differently about the way creative work and creatvitiy is judged than simply what type of trophy something deserves.

D&AD has a set of standards. And only if a piece of work meets those standards does it get recognition.

Unlike the vast majority of advertising award shows, this one’s not about individuals subjectively deciding how good something is. It’s about groups of people determining if something reaches very specific standards.

And it’s why there are some years when nothing has won a black pencil. And it’s therefore why everyone wants to have their name attached to one.

D&AD has become the definitive award because it’s brutal and absolute. It’s black and yellow.

There are no percentages, quotas, numbers or targets, there’s just a simple yes or no.

Is it good enough to be in the book, is it one of the year’s best, is it something that redefines what’s possible, will it stand as an inspiration of what is to follow?

So in a world of confusion, and blurry lines, and Trump l’oeils, it’s worth paying a small price to have some certainty in our lives.

As the saying goes, in this world nothing can be said to be certain – except D&AD and taxes.

Entries for the D&AD Awards are still open with the deadline set for Wednesday, March 13.