Young creatives "come back for pleasure"

I almost forgot to mention this little gem. The Cannes Lions, Shots magazine and the City of Cannes ran a competition for a campaign to encourage visitors to come back to Cannes. The fun part was they were given a super-duper Nokia phone and Apple editing software and told to come back in three days with the film. The winners, Roos de Kok from Cygnus X-3 and Liat Azulay of Euro RSCG, focused on businessmean "rather than the more glamorous part of the brief".

I'll leave you to discover the film on Shots, with the full article here.

Man wins Lion, drinks, loses Lion on beach

I'm trying not to laugh, because this is serious (snigger). Following on the previous post about bad behaviour in Cannes comes this heartfelt cry: "Imagine yourself waking up the morning after you buried your employer’s Cannes Lion on some beach in Cannes. Sounds like a lot of fun until you realize you don’t remember where it was."

Let me see... No, I can't imagine myself doing anything as stupid as that. But it seems that's what Tom Eriksen of Farfar in Sweden did. He got tired of carrying it around at the parties and buried the thing in the sand. But he never found it again. You can even check the video of him digging right here.

Tom's a sport though. He's offering $1000 to anyone that finds the thing. No questions asked. It's embarassing enough as it is.

While we're talking about Farfar, here's the campaign that got the award: Stockholm, the Musical.

Cannes: "bad behaviour deserves to be preserved"

Do we agree with this? In an article in the UK's "Media Bulletin", Francesca Newland makes a case for preserving the madness that is Cannes. Citing CEOs "passed out on the pavement in front of the Gutter Bar, Traktor party revellers being sprayed with Champagne to keep them cool, DDB's entire London creative department squashed on to an inflatable banana while racing around the Med," she maintains that this is important in some way. "For now, the rise of the corporate side of Cannes is useful. It justifies its cost, but it should never be allowed to cast a shadow over the craziness that the festival also attracts. Cannes is a place of excess. The only safe thing you should practice is sun protection."

OK, I've taken the juicier parts of the article. Newland also points out that the new realism in Cannes reflects the fact that most of advertising's other foibles such as fast cars and endless lunches have been eaten by clients' greater need for price control and accountability.

But one thing Newland misses is the town of Cannes itself. The mayor in particular is keen to downplay the reputation of Cannes as a massive stag night for professionals on a "jolly". Because with a major trade fair every six weeks, they can't afford the hangovers.

read the full article on Brand Republic's Media Bulletin.

Cannes Lions entries up 12%

According to a report on their site, entries for this year's Cannes Lions festival are up 12.5%. Although film and direct entries are down by almost 3% and 7% respectively, entries in the titanium, media and cyber categories have grown by 52%, 36% and 32% respectively. According to the British magazine Shots, this is due to "advertisers [seeking] different ways to reach internet-savvy consumers." Press and outdoor entries have also risen significantly. For the details, see Cannes Lions.

Carlton Hotel: What would you pay?

According to a report in The Times, the Carlton Hotel is about to change hands. The grand old favourite of Cannes' wealthier visitors is currently being sold together with other properties in the InterContinental Hotels Group. Of the £400 million price tag, the Carlton is estimated to be worth £150 million. The new owner will most likely be Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund. InterContinental, however, will retain day-to-day management for some time to come (although there are rumours about a senior management figure moving to London).

The Carlton has been in the movies again with France's "Quatre Etoiles/Four Stars" being the most recent film to use it as a location. It was also completely booked out during the recent Cannes Film Festival, despite the downturn in the movie business. The Carlton is consistently one of the favourite places to hang giant billboards (significantly, one for "Casino Royale" replaced "Da Vinci Code" after the first-night reviews).