JEFF GOODBY’S ANDY’S DIARY: THE FINAL DAY
Thelegendary Jeff Goodby, co-chairman, Goodby Silverstein & Partners,San Francisco, provides the CB Blog with the final day of exclusive diaryinstallments from Final Judging of The ANDY Awards in Mexico.
Campaign Brief,Campaign Brief Asia and Bestads are international media partners of theANDY Awards, which undoubtedly has the world’s hottest jury, chaired byMark Waites, creative partner of Mother.
You hear that the ANDYs are special because they’re the first majorshow to be judged every year. People say the results here will “set thetone” and somehow affect what’s picked in all the other shows.
I don’t think this is the case. I’ve been on those other juries, and we never cared a whit about what won earlier.
If anything, the later juries tried to avoid following the lead of the other shows.
There are indeed a couple things that make this show special, however.
Firstand by far the most important difference is the quality of the judgeshere. Looking the list over, a friend of mine in New York said, “If abomb ever hit the judges’ room, advertising would be fucked for yearsto come.” While that might be a bit of an overstatement (Droga, who’snot here, would simply declare a benevolent dictatorship and carry on),the talent in this place is truly ridiculous.
I learn a lot aboutthe work from my own company when I hear it discussed — and sometimescruelly dismissed — by this group. I said so to our chairman, MarkWaites from Mother, who said, “Yeah, it’s strange to see a bunch ofpeople who are used to getting their own way every day of their livessuddenly have to defer to other people’s opinions.”
Besides thejudges, the other thing that makes the ANDYs special is the fact thatthis terrific group of judges is asked to adjudicate every singlecategory in the show. At other shows, there are multiple juries, so youfind the big names heading up juries of less seasoned characters.
Here, an all-star jury looks at all the work. It’s a tougher crowd, for sure.
So where did it all come out?
Wellyou know I can’t tell you. But I can mention my favorite things in theshow: that Surfrider Foundaton campaign with the beach trash being soldin supermarket foam trays (“It’s like the ocean is throwing our trashback in our faces,” Prasoon Joshi said); a campaign that introduced anew Oasis album by having street musicians in New York play their songseven before the album came out; a moving TV spot from the DiscoveryChannel that celebrates, well, being on Earth (“BoombayattaBoombayatta”); Droga 5’s cell phone incentive program in New Yorkschools; a Mentos “Kiss Cam” on line.
They’ll all do okay.
I canalso mention some things that I thought were perhaps a bit overrated:Sarah Silverman’s “Great Schlep” web film for Barack Obama; a singingdog for Volkswagen; a “Stop the cycle of violence” banner ad thatyou’ll probably see more of in the shows this year.
They’ll all do okay too.
In the larger sense, shows like the ANDYs are at a bit of a crossroads these days, I think.
Theyare strapped with an avalanche of work that doesn’t really fit into thecategories they’ve created (and thus certain work ends up winning inmultiple categories and seeming better than it really is). Long formthings don’t really get the scrutiny they deserve – because they’rejust too, well, long. Good entry films can make okay work seem great,and bad entry films can waste a great campaign. And while there arefewer things that are
out-and-out fakes, there are entries thatpush the boundaries of what “real work” means. An FM radio stationcampaign, for instance, featured ten very beautiful executions inexpensive color illustration. You had to wonder how they’d ever havethe money to run such things, though.
Beyond that, there was a widerdiscussion about the ultimate purposes of the work and whether what isessentially charity work (like “Million”) should be compared to BurgerKing web experiences. Advertising
people are always a tiny bitashamed about whether we’re really doing God’s work, making us all abit quick to glom onto campaigns that seem to have a higher calling.How do you keep everything on a level playing field? It will be a bigquestion in years to come.
All in all, though, I think you’ll like the show and hopefully find it inspiring, outrageous, and controversial.
Andremember, as I tell my own people: If you could see the judgingprocess, you’d be less elated about winning, and less deflated aboutlosing.
Thanks for following this, if you did.
The judges ‘Class of 09’ photo in Mexico
11 Comments
The truth is the that best creatives don’t judge. They make great & original work, rather than judging others. They move their businesses forward, past what everyone else is doing, by bucking the system and breaking new ground. Judging just reassures judges that they are the status quo, They think that they are at the top of their game – but its the only game they know. Sure you can make a career out of it. And one has built his business on simply being a judge. Yet, the true prize is press. .
This industry is so frustrating. Tried to get up exactly the same idea that Goodby liked for Surfrider’s Association for another charity over 4 years ago. No support from CD or agency. Good on Saatchi’s LA for supporting good work.
yeah, we’ve all got stories like that.
I once tried to sell a client on a pisstaking spokesman for their brand, and they looked at me like I’d grown an extra head or something. Our relationship went south pretty quickly after that.
A year later, and someone else has done it (and done it well), and has been rightfully getting awards for it ever since.
the lesson is clear: you can never make an ad you can’t sell (unless it’s scam). So you have to realise that half the battle is getting your stuff through. Frustrating, but I guess it’s always been that way.
Mate, send your book to Saatchi’s LA then.
Don’t worry 10.08, you’re still a winner to me.
Hard to believe such an insightful intelligent man approved the Comm Bank stuff.
Good for a bank but hardly Goodby’s…
Somebody should get Goodby’s grandchildren to go visit him and explain the Great Schlep to him.
That Surfrider stuff is a good idea, but if they’re genuinely trying to stop pollution then they shouldn’t have packaged it up in foam trays and glad wrap, the very thing they’re pulling out of the water. I’d call that a fuck up.
“It’s like the ocean is throwing our trash back in our faces”
Ahaha that made me laugh. And not because it’s funny.
the singing dog is brilliant.
9.22 – you don’t seriously believe that even the best agencies work is always gold standard?
No matter how great a shop is, most of the work they do will never be great. We see goodby’s best 5%, because that’s what they PR and enter into shows. Don’t worry, there’ll be plenty of ordinary stuff on air over in the states made by them. That’s no slight on them, that’s just the way the business is.
Of course, their best 5% is truly great, and that’s why they win so many awards. And even their ‘ordinary’ work – like the Comm Bank stuff – is at least decent, and not without merit.