Ben Welsh’s Cannes Diary: Day Three

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Ben Welsh, ECD at M&C Saatchi, Sydney is Australia’s representative on the Cannes Lions Outdoor jury. Welsh, along with most of the Australian and NZ jurors, is of course reporting exclusively for CB.

Day two of judging. It’s show case time. The first category is CO2, Small Scale Special Solutions, and like the other CO2, there’s far too much of it. Before long we are suffocating as this category is pretty much everything. If you want to enter your musical condom pack in outdoor you put it in here, likewise your pubic hair monitoring scales (I kid you not). 

It feels like PR, media, direct all thrown together and while culturally amusing, most of the work is pretty shit. That said, it is amazing how many of the world’s problems can be solved by a Small Scale Special Solution. You need no longer fear your dog eating cigarette butts, or hurting its neck, blood shortages are a thing of the past and vending machines can pretty much fix everything. Is there nothing the SSSS can’t do?

The other categories are more interesting, and a lot shorter; CO3 Special build, CO4 Stunts and live advertising. A few vending machines have crept into here too, maybe they should have their own category? 

Speaking of new categories there has to be one someday for the best case study film. The craft in these was something else; animation, better typography than most of yesterday’s posters and music that is doing its best to sway the jury. Some of these must have cost more than the actual ad budget. I start listening out to see if anyone uses the same music track and around 5.30 I hear “Ca plein pour moi” and it almost is enough for moi aussi.

 

Then we finish off the day with CO6 Digital Outdoor and you find yourself wondering where the idea ends and the technology begins – but there are a couple of good ones. By 6.30 it’s over. Looking back I can think of six pieces out of possibly 300. Seven if you count the unforgettable pubic hair scales designed for Japanese women who have yet to discover the sense of self-confidence that comes from having a well trimmed bush. A demain, as they say here.