FP7 Doha stripped of agency of the year title

FP7 Doha has been stripped of its agency of the year title and seven awards following an investigation by the Dubai Lynx.

The awards withdrawn are two golds, four silvers and a bronze for ‘clients’ Samsung, Higeen Mouthwash and Nissan.

The decision to withdraw so many awards was taken after the investigation revealed that numerous examples of work from the agency did not meet the entry criteria of the Dubai Lynx. Ten shortlisted pieces of work in the print and outdoor section have also been disqualified.

Philip Thomas, CEO of Cannes Lions, organisers of the Lynx, said: “Even before the awards night, we had withdrawn a number of pieces of work from the competition but subsequently our investigation has found other pieces that were presented to the jury that infringed our requirement that all work presented must represent the client who approved it. Our rules are very clear with regards to this, and we have no hesitation in withdrawing these awards. ”

He added: “The Dubai Lynx awards exist to celebrate and raise the creative bar of genuine work of the region. Activities like this show a disregard not only for the awards but more importantly for the juries who work so hard judging the event. Due to the scale of withdrawals we feel it inappropriate to honour FP7 Doha as Agency of the Year and so will be withdrawing the prize. I hope that this swift action makes clear our determination to build an award with true integrity for the region.”

The agency of the year title will not go to second placed FP7 Dubai and will not be awarded to any other agency.

 The investigation, which began last week, followed the publication of a damning entry on bloganubis, in which the legitimacy of FP7 Doha’s work for Higeen Mouthwash, Samsung and Nissan was questioned. The awards withdrawn are the ‘ink’, ‘oil’, and ‘mud’ print gold for Samsung; the ‘car’, ‘cook’, and ‘rocket’ TV/cinema gold for Samsung; the print ‘nuns’ and ‘Students’ print silver for Samsung; the ‘flying bird’, ‘man digging’, and ‘running horse’ print silver for Samsung; the ‘cow’, ‘sheep’, and ‘pig’ print silver and outdoor silver for Higeen; and the ‘Jackson 7 TV bronze for Nissan.

Lance de Masi, president of the UAE chapter of the IAA, which holds the Lynx awards in association with Cannes Lions, said: “In taking such swift action the Lynx organisers have demonstrated their understanding that in order to fulfill the purpose of incentivizing and rewarding creative excellence in the region, Lynx must safeguard compliance with the stated conditions of eligibility. To do otherwise would be to undermine credibility.”

The issue had been complicated by a religious row that erupted in Lebanon following the publication of the ‘nuns’ ad in a Lebanese newspaper last week.

Update: Statement from FP7

“The Fortune Promoseven organization is aware of the decision to strip the Agency of the Year title from FP7 Doha at Lynx 2009. We are in support of the spirit in which this announcement from Lynx was made. This is a message to every agency, every creative in the region that there are rules to be obeyed, standards to be followed, and that there are no short cuts to stardom in our industry.

“While we acknowledge the action by Lynx, we are continuing our internal investigations and we are taking strong punitive action against anyone who was in contempt of our reputation and our standards.  We are also definitely sure that this issue was personally motivated and was outside the frame work of  our internal rules, fundamental principles, and agency beliefs.

“At this time, we should not forget that as an agency brand we have had a large number of world class entries from across our regional footprint that were recognized and awarded by an international jury at Lynx. Looking at the results overall, our organization is by far still the most awarded and recognized agency at Lynx and we are quite proud of that.  One cannot take away the credit from that tremendous achievement.”

Some serious soul searching is required

So Ramsey Naja was right. The aftermath of the Dubai Lynx has descended into a war of words, with fingers being pointed all over the shop.

There is genuine cause for concern surrounding some of the winners at this year’s Lynx and an investigation is fully justified, but there are aspects of the fallout that remind me of the worst traits of the region’s media industry. If certain individuals spent as much time trying to move the industry forward as they do spouting anonymous vitriol, we’d be in a far better position than we are now. This should be an open debate, not an anonymous argument.

Euro RSCG’s Steffan Postaer must be sitting comfortably back in his office in Chicago wondering what the hell’s going on. Here’s a region, according to him, that’s stuck in the 80s and can’t be judged by international standards. That is a worry. How can an industry progress if it is being treated like a child? And – others have already said this – what must the world be thinking as it looks on at the mess that this has become?

Still, all this talk of copycats, scams, frauds and cheats is only one of the industry’s worries. This was not a vintage Lynx year. Apart from the odd exception, the industry appears to have regressed, not progressed. Where was the brilliant and genuine outdoor, where was the inspiring print, why were there so few entries in the integrated category, and why is the industry so fixated with traditional media when the rest of the world is moving on? The organisers of the Lynx went to great lengths to provide valuable seminars that offer guidance into the murky waters ahead. And if you made it to the seminars held by Strawberry Frog founder Scott Goodson and chief creative officer of Pereira O’Dell, PJ Pereira, you would have discovered that the future lies in the creation of bona-fide cultural movements, not two-dimensional executions.

The big danger from all of this, of course, is that agencies will be discouraged from entering future Dubai Lynx awards. That must not happen. It’s the only credible awards show we have, and I doubt we’ll get another. If Cannes Lions can’t succeed, no one will. That’s why the organisers are acting quickly to make sure the integrity of the awards is kept intact and that those who have cheated are punished accordingly. But it’s time for some serious soul searching, because without each other, without a respectable awards show, and without an eye on the future, the industry is going nowhere.

Samsung ‘Jesus’ ads removed from Lynx website

The Dubai Lynx has removed all of FP7 Doha’s winning work for Samsung from its website following a request by the Korean electronics company.

The move has been made in response to the religious fall-out in Lebanon caused by an FP7 Doha ad featuring Jesus taking a photograph of a group of nuns with the new Samsung SL310W.

The ad has been depicted as an attack “against Christian symbols” by certain factions in Lebanon and is causing significant damage to Samsung’s image in the Levant.

FP7 Doha’s Samsung work is currently under investigation by the Dubai Lynx, as is its work for clients Higeen Mouthwash and Nissan. FP7 is also undertaking its own internal ‘fact-finding mission’.

Steve Lane, festival director of the Dubai Lynx, said the presence of the ads on the Lynx website had been fanning the flames of the controversy in Lebanon.

A decision on whether FP7 Doha will be stripped of its awards is expected early next week. If the decisions go against the agency, it could be stripped of its Agency of the Year title. Other FP7 Doha ads have also been removed from the website.

Update: In a statement released by Samsung in Lebanon, the company has categorically distanced itself from the ad.

“The company did not commission, develop or approve the publishing of the religiously insensitive advertisements,” said the statement. “This advertising campaign was produced and submitted by marketing agency, FP7 Doha, without the knowledge or consent of Samsung Electronics.”

Sunny Hwang, president of Samsung Electronics Levant, added: “At no time was Samsung Electronics aware of these advertisements and the company has not approved or commissioned FP7 to create any advertising campaigns. Samsung has the utmost respect for all cultures and religions and would never produce or approve the use of such culturally insensitive advertisements.”

Phillip Thomas, CEO of Cannes Lions, the organisers of the Dubai Lynx, said: “We accept all entries to the Dubai Lynx Awards in good faith and trust the agencies competing to be honest and accurate with their submissions and details of client sign off. It appears in this case that FP7 Doha has knowingly tried to mislead ourselves and our jury regarding work they claimed to have created on behalf of Samsung Electronics, which in reality the client had never seen or approved.

“We have openly stated that any submissions to the awards found to be in breach of our entry criteria will be withdrawn and that will be the case here. We will be vigilant in checking all winning entries meet the criteria in all ways, and if they are found wanting then we will act.”

FP7 launches its own internal Lynx investigation

FP7 has launched its own investigation into the legitimacy of some of FP7 Doha’s winning Lynx entries.

Azmi Yafi, CEO of FP7, UAE, is leading what he calls ‘a fact finding mission’. He said:  “Yes, we are prepared to take decisive action regarding any submission by FP7 Doha which genuinely contravenes the rules, regulations and the spirit of Lynx.”

Yafi and the management team are looking at every winning or shortlisted entry and investigating the accuracy of all pertinent entry-related information.

“This is not just about winning or losing at Lynx,” said Yafi. “This is about ethics, and practices, and about Promoseven’s responsibility towards our industry.”

The internal investigation was launched by the group’s top management after several allegations about irregularities. Yafi added: “We are looking into the allegations and if we have discrepancies from our end, we will take immediate and swift action to remedy them.”

The move follows the launch of an official investigation by  Dubai Lynx organisers into work for three of FP7 Doha’s clients (see previous post).

Dubai Lynx launches investigation into FP7 Doha’s winning work

The organisers of the Dubai Lynx have launched an official investigation into a string of winning work by FP7 Doha.

The investigation follows the publication of a damning entry on bloganubis, in which the legitimacy of FP7 Doha’s work for clients Higeen Mouthwash, Samsung and Nissan was questioned.

Steve Lane, festival director of the Dubai Lynx, confirmed that complaints had been received from numerous agencies as a result of the blog, as well as from clients.

“There are two or three prongs to the investigation,” said Lane. “With Samsung – specifically the camera campaign – the washing machine and the printers. We’re trying to get to the bottom of whether the camera stuff actually ran and was actually approved.” He added: “I am in contact with Samsung and we are having an ongoing discussion with them, trying to get to the bottom of who exactly said yes to this stuff.”

Lane said official complaints had been received about the agency’s Higeeen mouthwash work. He also confirmed that a campaign for Nissan had been withdrawn from the Lynx shortlist prior to the awards ceremony following complaints from Nissan that the ads were nothing to do with them. Shortlisted work for Matchbox had also been removed.

FP7 Doha was named advertising agency of the year at the Dubai Lynx awards ceremony on 17 March, but is now in danger of being stripped of its title if the investigation goes against them.

The original bloganubis posting was the work of an agency insider going by the alias of ‘John Doh’. He had originally sent his letter to a number of different media, including Campaign.

According to Lane, the Samsung work is being looked into the most seriously.

“If we withdraw any of the stuff that’s actually been awarded, we will recalculate agency of the year,” said Lane. “They [FP7 Doha] may be so far ahead they’ll retain it, but we will see.”

Why can’t adland play nicely?

As the bluster of last week’s Dubai Lynx dies down (or heats up depending on your opinion) one lasting impression from the night itself was of certain attendees choosing to leave the event rather than cheer on their peers/rivals. Of course no one likes to lose, and one of the inevitable aspects of awards is that work that didn’t get recognised took as much time, effort and determination as work that did. But that, as they say, is just the way the cookie crumbles.

Even taking into account the natural competitiveness that such occasions throw up, was it too much to expect that on one of the few nights the region’s industry gets together to celebrate as one, people might have been able to grin and bear it?

The nature of the Lynx awards ceremony itself might be partly to blame. At other awards nights elsewhere in the world, after the prize giving is over the party kicks in until the wee hours with agencies, win or lose, thrown together on a dancefloor at the actual awards’ venue. So what can we do to remedy the situation? Will an awards night that goes on to gather everyone together afterwards be the solution, or would that just end in more tears before bedtime?

All over bar the shouting

The judges are on their way home, the winners are nursing hangovers, and it’s as you were for the region’s advertising community, but was the Dubai Lynx a success?

Outspoken international judges and a dodgy speech by Bob Isherwood, the former worldwide creative director of Saatchi & Saatchi, certainly spiced up the three-day jamboree, but when the dust has settled questions are sure to be asked. It certainly wasn’t a vintage year by any stretch of the imagination, with only Leo Burnett Beirut’s ‘Khede Kasra’ (pictured) standing out as a truly world-class campaign. Indeed, as jury president Tham Khai Meng, worldwide creative director of Ogilvy & Mather, said, if it weren’t for the fact that the campaign was for a charity, it would have won two grand prixs.

FP7 Doha are to be congratulated for their consistency and for their dogged commitment to pushing the region’s creativity onwards, but Fadi Yaish, the agency’s creative director, was the first to admit that the region hadn’t taken a step forward at this year’s Lynx.

It was also disappointing to see some agencies walk out en masse during the Lynx ceremony when they realised things weren’t going their way, revealing yet again that the industry is more divided than united.

FP7 Doha win Lynx agency of the year

It’s late, we’ve just got back from celebrating with FP7 Doha, Lowe and the rest of MCN at the C Bar, but in case you didn’t already know, FP7 Doha won agency of the year, Starcom media agency of the year, and Leo Burnett Cairo walked away with the print grand prix.

More tomorrow…

Update: Some highlights. Only the grand prixs and golds here, for everything else check the Dubai Lynx website.
Agency of the year: 1st FP7 Doha; 2nd FP7 Dubai; 3rd Team Y&R Dubai

TV/cinema:
Grand prix – FP7 Cairo for Coca-Cola
Golds – Leo Burnett Beirut’s ‘Stop the suffering’ for P&G; FP7 Doha for Samsung; Lowe’s ‘Staying alive’ for MTV;
Print
Grand prix – Leo Burnett Cairo’s ‘Egyptian hotdog’ for Heinz
Golds – FP7 Doha’s ‘Ink, oil and mud’ for Samsung; FP7 Doha’s work for Aramex; FP7 Dubai’s ‘Gummi bears’ for the Brainobrain Education Program.
Outdoor
Grand prix – FP7 Dubai’s ‘Gummi bears’
Golds – The Tribe’s ‘U2 3D’; FP7 Doha’s work for Aramex
Integrated
Gold – Leo Burnett Beirut’s ‘Khede Kasra’ campaign for the Hariri Foundation.
Media agency of the year
1st Starcom; 2nd OMD Dubai; 3rd Leo Burnett Beirut
Media
Grand prix – Starcom’s ‘Galaxy fallen in love again’
Golds – Leo Burnett Beirut’s ‘Khede Kasra’; Starcom’s ‘Galaxy fallen in love again’; Starcom’s ‘New day, new dawn’; Impact BBDO Kuwait’s ‘Crashed mobile’ for Wataniya; Starcom’s ‘Your path, our car, let’s pl@y’; Memac Ogilvy’s ‘One breasted mannequin’;

‘We’re ashamed of Arabia’ says Middle East ad man

The Middle East’s advertising industry is plagued by a deep-seated shame over its Arabian roots, said the creative director of Leo Burnett Cairo during a seminar ahead of tonight’s Dubai Lynx awards.

In a passionate plea for the region’s creatives to raise their game by embracing local culture, Mohamed Hamdalla said an obsession with echoing Western ideas was stifling progress.

“The problem in the Middle East is that we are trying to be more Western than the Westerners,” said Hamdalla. “The only thing we can do is to so something that’s never been seen before.  We need to find an Arabian voice. Right now we are just copying.”

He continued: “Why can’t we make people look at us as human beings instead of terrorists? We are just as good as everyone else but we have to understand that first before anyone else will understand it. We are ashamed of being Arabs and we shouldn’t be. We are beautiful people.

“I think we are in such a good position now because we have never tapped into Arabia. The world is saturated with Swedish and Brazilian culture in advertising but they (consumers) have never seen Arabia. We are in a position to change the world.”

Hamdalla was speaking at The Lynx Debate alongside Ramsey Naja, chief creative officer of JWT MENA, Peter Bidenko, integrated creative director of Impact BBDO Dubai and Andrew Durkan, creative director at The Tribe’s Dubai office.

Naja said: “What we look for in advertising are wonderful stories and often what this culture – that is slightly embarassed to be what it is – looks for is a sanitised version. We call it ‘New York in a dish-dash’.”

One answer, it was suggested, is to nurture homegrown talent rather than relying on the quick fix of recruiting from abroad.

So what do you think? Is the Middle East’s creative output just a pale imitation of what works in the US and Europe? Is the Middle Eastern advertising community afraid, or even ashamed, to show true Arabian culture to the rest of the world?

Lynx predictions – ‘Khede Kasra’ to win the day

The TV and integrated shortlists are out and it’s easy to see where international judge Steffan Postaer was coming from when he let rip at the quality of the TV work earlier this week. However, while this may not be a vintage year for TV, there is the odd little nugget of gold if you dig deep enough.

Eliot over at AdNation tells us he’s got the winners list in his hands, but we’re going with our gut. So, here are our favourites for gold in the TV: FP7 Dubai’s ‘Bird’, ‘Cake’ and ‘Dog’ for Sony; Leo Burnett Beirut’s ‘Stop the suffering’ for P&G; TBWA\Raad’s ‘Long-time-no-see Saudi kiss’ for MTV Arabia; and Lowe’s ‘Staying alive’ for MTV.

In the integrated, Leo Burnett Beirut’s ‘Khede Kasra’ for The Hariri Foundation, and Memac Ogilvy’s ‘Fight breast cancer’ are our top tips. But ‘Khede Kasra’ to steal the glory.