Two familiar trends dominated Cannes this year - the use of ambient
media and the emphasis on strong visuals at the expense of copy.
Forays into ambient media were viewed particularly favourably, and
included messages written on toilet paper and an award-winning ad
printed on luggage conveyor belt doors in airport baggage pick-up areas
describing how many suitcases fit into a Volkswagen.
In terms of content, however, the most unusual twist was the high
preponderance of animals - especially elephants - as agencies around the
world tried to replicate the success of last year’s Grand Prix-winning
commercial for Rolo from Ammirati Puris Lintas that starred a circus
elephant who remembered a grievance for many years.
Entries this time around included an exploding elephant from a Danish
agency for Tyrkisk Peber sweets; an African elephant travelling to New
York for a Snickers bar and an ad showing a close-up of an elephant’s
backside to demonstrate how near you can get to wildlife in a Chrysler
Cherokee jeep.
This year’s sheep-cloning scientific breakthrough also caught the
imagination of agencies worldwide.
However, this did not go down particularly well with jurors. York
Fanger, the chairman of New York Communication/GGK and a German judge,
commented: ’Every year you get sex ads, sperm ads, Aids ads. This year
we got Dolly the sheep - ugh.’
The organisation of the judging won praise this year from jurors. Many
said they had been pleasantly surprised by the decorum fostered by Bo
Ronnberg, the chairman of the jury.
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