Paying to get advertised to

TIMOTHY BROWN STAFF

We’ve all seen commercials. Usually, they come within those agonizing two and a half minutes when our favorite television show decides to take a break at a most inconvenient time. At this point, you might run off to the washroom or maybe go and make a snack. Occasionally, someone (like myself) will sit there and watch in contempt as horrible commercial after horrible commercial is aired, trying desperately to reach a target audience that simply isn’t interested.

Well, believe it or not, there are indeed excellent commercials out there that go beyond trying to sell us a product, and provide us with something that, at times, is nothing short of amazing. This is advertising at its best, and just like with films, this commercial art form has its own festival. The Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival is a weeklong showcase of the best commercials from around the world. The festival also features seminars, workshops and social events for people in the advertising industry. However, the primary purpose of the festival is to present the Lion awards. There are a wide array of different categories and subcategories in which advertisements can be awarded, such as “best use of music in an advertisement,” among others.

Since not all of us can afford to go to Cannes, France every time we want to watch some good commercials, the Festival places all of the bronze, silver and gold medal winners into a nice, two hour package and sends it off to be screened all over the world — to places like the Winnipeg Art Gallery, where it is showing twice nightly until April 1.

There are 33 bronze-medal winners, 56 silver-medal winners, 17 gold-medal winners and one grand prix winner (the most prestigious award at the festival). With a total of 107 commercials, one doesn’t really get a chance to become bored. Starting with the bronze medal commercials, the program works its way up the ladder to the very best. Obviously, it would be impossible to describe each commercial that was shown, so I will therefore describe a couple of commercials that really stood out.

A particularly strong entry from Axe body spray starts with two young males bouncing coins into glasses in what looks like their parents’ kitchen. The coin-bouncing tricks become more difficult, and are actually somewhat impressive. The final trick has them bouncing a coin from across the kitchen and into a glass: an awe-inspiring coin-bouncing feat. It then goes to a black screen and text then appears saying, “Get a girlfriend.” It then shows another young man spraying Axe body spray on himself which then attracts two scantily clad women. It is, if nothing else, a great example of comic timing in an ad.

The second commercial, and quite possibly my favourite, was an ad for Carlton Draught, an Australian beer. The ad has two groups of people running towards each other singing a modified version of “O Fortuna” from Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana.” The vocals have been changed to the likes of “This is an ad . . . A very big ad,” etc. As they get closer, you see an aerial shot of the people running towards each other and you notice that the one group who are dressed in yellow are in the form of a glass of Carlton Draught, and the other group (dressed in red) are in the form of a person. The person’s hand extends, grabbing the beer and drinking it. The beer then flows into the mouth and then down to the stomach. Not only is this ad incredibly hilarious, but it’s very well thought out.

This obviously doesn’t properly summarize the enjoyment of the screening, as there are more than 100 commercials, most of which are excellent. There’s such a diversity it is almost mind-boggling. At times, the commercials become works of art, overshadowing the products they are selling. This is when the program is at its most effective, and it gives a new sense of dignity to companies that spend millions on advertising every year.

With the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival now entering year 54, one could surmise that these achievements in advertisements still won’t be fully appreciated by those viewers at home, sitting impatiently through those agonizing two and a half minutes, waiting for their show to return. This is unfortunate, because the two hours of the Cannes Lions have altered how I look at commercials. There is great potential in advertising and there are people creative enough and driven enough to propel advertising to new and better places. Still, however, it looks as if we’re stuck with the same shitty ads that plague us between those shows we enjoy so much.