The Art Directors Club, host of the ACD Annual Awards, and The Cannes Lions both released statements, to underscore their policies against scam entries to their competitions.
Chairman Terry Savage and CEO Philip Thomas emphasized that their role was "not to come between the client and the agency, nor to penalise individuals from an agency who have not had any association with the work in question."
To preempt scam entries, they cited their rule: “Entries cannot be made without the prior permission of the advertiser/owner of the rights of the advertisement. All entries must have been made within the context of a normal paying contract with a client. That client must have paid for all, or the majority of, the media costs…In future we will continue to withdraw awards that do not meet our entry criteria and announce that we have done so."
Likewise, The Art Directors Club said it, too, would publicly announce any disqualification.
"For the first time starting this year, we’ll take the additional step to communicate directly with other industry awards organizations and inform them about the scam ad so they too can be on the lookout and take action. We call upon other awards organizations to reciprocate."
However the association recognizes that some of the best ideas do end up in the waste bin. For this purpose, it encourages agencies and creatives to enter them in the Playground category, "created four years ago specifically for work that for one reason or another never got approved by the client, or never ran."
The Cannes Lions and The Art Directors Club are the latest organizations to address the issue of scam ads in award shows. While scam ads have always be the biggest open secret in advertising, it was not until last September that award show organizers were compelled to address it.
Having awarded a little-known WWF ad from DDB Brasil, which became the subject of controversy after AdFreak.com denounced it, The One Club was forced to withdraw its certificate of merit and enforce a penalty which bans guilty parties from entering The One Show competition for five years.
