In two days, advertising folk will congregate in Goa for the 10th edition of the industry’s annual jamboree, Goafest, where the industry awards the best communication work for the last year. If the industry’s track record is any indicator, we can expect controversy, because “fair and square” are often alien to India’s advertising practitioners.

Our ad folk often manage to antagonise the world by choosing creativity over what is globally accepted public conscience. The world was not amused when former Italian PM and media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi or the Kardashian sisters were the butt of Indian advertising humour for an ad that was created only to win awards and not increase the sales of an ailing global auto giant. A year or two later, to sell a mattress of all things, Indian advertising decided to revive memories of the horrific shooting of Pakistani Malala Yousafzai. By showing that she bounced back after landing on the mattress only went on to prove that Indian advertising heads have a warped sense of humour. Ironically, these ads were never released in the mass media. However, the controversy that followed ensured that they were withdrawn from the awards.

A few years back, one of the agencies created headlines for not just creating a ‘scam ad’ but also a ‘scam agency’. The agency had apparently created an ad for an MNC client but could not win approvals. So, the agency nominated one of its employees to enter for the awards by floating a fictitious agency under his own name. The one-man-army won several awards. The saga would have been forgotten, had greed not got the better of the agency. It entered the same work for the global awards in Cannes under its own name. Wily rivals were quick to spill the beans.

Deputy Editor

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