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UPDATE: Lynx officially strips FP7 Doha of awards: full story here.
The winning ads from Fortune Promoseven Doha for Samsung and Higeen have been removed from the Dubai Lynx website
and downloadable winners’ lists.
While we’ve had no official statement yet, this looks like a very strong indication that the work is to be withdrawn shortly – unsurprising in view of the unpleasantness some of the Samsung work in particular has caused, especially in Lebanon.
The specific ads that have been removed include:
Print:
Gold: Ink/Oil/Mud for Samsung
Silver: Nuns/Students for Samsung
Silver: Cow/Sheep/Pig for Higeen
Outdoor:
Silver: Cow/Sheep/Pig for Higeen
TV/Cinema:
Gold: Car/Cook/Rocket for Samsung
At this stage it’s unclear if this will affect FP7 Doha’s Agency Of The Year status – although this is largely moot now, considering the controversy. We suspect that the agency had a big enough lead to hold onto its trophy, though. The Lynx website shows no changes in this category.
Lynx and FP7 have both been investigating the issue of “scam” work in relation to FP7 Doha’s Lynx entries. Both investigations are expected to report back early next week, and it seems likely that one if not both parties will be taking strong action.
We’ll bring you the official announcements as soon as we get them.
In the meantime, the now-notorious “John Doh” has been at it again - UPDATE and so have others - see below for a comment from "dubailynx rise".
In an email to AdNation (and, we’d imagine, most of our colleagues on other publications) as well as in a post to Blog Anubis
(which also has some more Lynx scam/copy claims posted), this self-appointed advertising crusader has dug out examples of scam or copy-cat work from other agencies, moving on from the FP7-a-thon that’s been the focus since the Lynx.
We haven’t gone through the list thoroughly yet – and so cannot comment on the accuracy of John Doh’s claims – but we’ll be having a closer look next week.
In the meantime, we’ve reproduced the email below, and we’ll be in touch with the agencies named come Sunday morning for any comments – and hopefully explanations and/or media schedules (they are of course free to get in touch themselves before then...).
The firms named include:
- Team Y&R Dubai
- Leo Burnett Dubai
- TBWA\RAAD Dubai
- Genius Loci Dubai
- The Tribe
- Impact BBDO Beirut
- FP7 Dubai
- JWT Dubai
- Leo Burnett Cairo
There is a certain sense of balance in seeing other agencies’ work put under the scamming microscope – and we certainly salute John Doh for having the patience and diligence to go through the ads.
At the same time, though, we think you’d be hard-pushed to find an agency in the region which could truthfully say it HASN’T entered “proactive” work – and would reference the need to educate clients, and so on and so forth.
Indeed internationally we’d be surprised if there wasn’t a fair amount of “awards-specific” work being done.
The difference – and it’s crucial – is of course degree. While most agencies here might have 10-15% proactive/scam work among their awards entries (and outside the region, we’d imagine a lot less), the sheer volume of awards-focused work done by agencies such as FP7 Doha is what’s caused ructions.
We’ll be coming back to these issues next week, as we dissect the aftermath of Lynx and – hopefully – put it to rest for another year.
UPDATE 29/03/2009: We've received a comment from "dubailynx rise" on this sticky subject:
"Media people (campaign, communicate, mediaweekme, tom roy) why don’t you ask Mr. Steve Lane what he is doing about the others now!!!!
way to go Jhon Doh or shall i say Jhon Dubai now!!! now you ruined everyone else in advertising. but are you aware that you are ruining everyone and the whole industry EVEN YOUR OWN AGENCY NOW. but at the end that what it is, as i said before it is not FP7 only but because they are on the top, we all wanted to hunt them down. or shall i say drag them down?
but what does lynx have to say about this now. what about the other agencies or they just wanted to Crucify FP7 Doha to save the water of their face and think people would be satisfied when justice prevail and we hunt down FP7 Doha. they are mistaken if this is the message they want to deliver to the region, what has been applied on FP7 has to be applied to everyone now. same exact measures. then we would sit silent. we are good boys!"
Sigh. Can this all just be over now. Please?
The latest “John Doh” email (reprinted verbatim, and as-is – we feel the lack of punctuation, capitals, grammar, synxtax and correct spelling merely add to the verisimilitude. We assume John’s not a copywriter) UPDATED to include an additional claim:
Subject: other agencies ghost ads - stop ghost ads
Dear eliot
i dont want to fail you on the sequel of the story, which is even more interesting. again It is only a map that you could follow, if you want to find the Holy Grain of Truth.
hope this round you will have the guts to do the right thing
1) Y&R Dubai - ZEISS LENS - FLY campaign
for sure this is real work and the lens client wanted to promote the lens power in 2009 where lot of people still use lens for many reasons and it is now or never. the market now and with the financial crises can afford the lens client to spend money on production for lens campaign. brilliant. this one is real client brief work. isn't it!
who can doubt this one and why?
2) leo burnett dubai - tide campaign
yes with the real beautiful ads i see from P&G WORK ON TV AND PRESS this is for sure real work, client asked for it, and presented, approved, ran for couple of weeks and months like P&G usually run their campaigns.
brilliant work P&G and leo
3) TBWA DUBAI - HANSAPLAST PLASTER
yes sure
we have been in the region forever and ever. we always saw ads and posters for plaster everywhere. it is usual for plaster brands to do press and outdoor campaigns for it self and invest in it to drive more sales. and the proof that both JWT and TBWA are doing the same campaign see it is really in demand to do plaster campaigns these days.
4)TBWA Dubai - Pattex glue
well done you brought in a product brand from the dead in the market - last seen in the 80's and the client suddenly requested the agency to campaign for pattex glue because it is part of the yearly marketing plan.
and the agency came up with this clear benefit for the market which the client instantly approved and invested in to increase sales in the market since it is available everywhere.
5) TBWA Dubai - Eight resturant
what is wrong with TBWA dubai doing campaign as such for client in beirut.
since they are doing it for very cheap resturant by the corner who would for sure have the budget to advertise during financial crises as the tourism in beirut is booming in winter and they for sure can afford such campaigns with a very clear message and idea that would click with everyone and drive traffic into the resturant. sure thing
6) Y&R Dubai - landrover gear
yeah land rover car ads are all over the place in dubai and the region and you know what it is the perfect time to advertise landrover gear in the region because cars and land rover market specifically is booming and car sales did not get affected by the financial crises at all. and the biggest target audience in the region are not the gulf nation whom wear thoubs even on off road. no it is the mass, and these people are very interested in land rover clothing and gear.
so the client yes asked for it, approved it, and run it. how could you suspect this one come on. it is Y&R and Land rover, they have this client. this is real work man.
7) leo burnett dubai - fujifilm
yes we all know that they have fuji film, and they spend heavily and they always do brand campaigns like these and we see them everywhere don't we. this was just another campaign which leo dubai are used to do for fuji and if you cant remember even in the 2008 lynx we saw couple of campaigns as good as this one and nothing is fishy around it at all. why would lynx investigate this one why?
8)Genius LOCI Dubai - Westin Dubai
this was one of the very very very few copy campaigns and for a resturant, so lets award it and you know what poor Genius LOCI they don't have many entries and they are not a threat to any one so it will pass, and nothing fishy about it, restaurants like westin dubai advertise heavily in dubai and long copy ads is their style it is not a favor from the resturant or anything like that, or maybe the owner is a friend of someone in the agency no. it is a real client and we see their campaigns everyday in dubai, no i meant every now and then.
9) tribe - U23D IMAX
i have seen this run in dubai! like all the campaigns that imax run to drive traffic into the movie theatre or for films, this one is for real and it was for U2 3D IMAX silly people. it is for real.
10) impact bbdo beirut - sharp
no beirut don't do scam. this one is real not been done in photoshop just for the sake of taking the picture, you can call the supermarket and ask them they will tell you yes, and the client approved it. you know sharp are very active in beirut unlike the rest of the region
11) FP7 Dubai - mcdonalds
come on guys, you always see such ads for mcdonalds in the street specially the price driven ads. they don't usually have the price tag big and the sandwich bigger than the space no they dont. it always clean and neat like this one this is typical ad fro mcdonalds and am sure that the client saw it and it ran like the rest of their campaigns
12) FP7 Dubai - leatherman
are you joking me, we see this brand everywhere on the streets it is not like the first time ever in the history of this region. and am sure it is as real as the Chiqueta radio campaign. come on guys just focus on the grand prix and spray this one is for real
13) leo burnett - GMC CADIA
THIS ONE FOR SURE IS REAL because we always see GMC ads run like this in the region, and am sure the client seen it and approved because it is his style, and it was done to appeal to the consumer in GCC that is why it has been shot else where.
and YOU KNOW WHAT AMERICANS CARS AND GMC ARE NOT HAVING ANY CRISES AND ALMOST BROKE NOT AT ALL, THEY STILL HAVE MARKETING BUDGET TO DO THESE AWARDS CAMPAIGNS, dont you think.
14) JWT Dubai - virgin megastore
poor thing they only have this one made it
it must be real work and client brief because JWT are very honest agency and do not do scam or even proactive they only work on real briefs from the client and they dont copy ads god forbid because if they do the people will get fired.
and you know what virgin are very very interested in doing ads for the kids books section. and knowing virgin and the constant campaigns they do every day, it is part of the agenda for this year to promote kids music books. you fool.
15) JWT dubai - hotwheels
oh my god they work for Mattel , how cool i wish i work for JWT Dubai they dont do scam at all.
and shame this year bra campaign for the lingerie store did not make it like last year naked woman in the breast, bottom front and back area campaign that was real and ran for sure press and outdoor but in the store and there is nothing sensitive about it to have naked women.
15/B) and buy the way all their work for the DM is real work and done for real and you dare proof otherwise they are not cheap mockup done by the agency and the agency took the pictures for it in the locations and did the board and the jury bought it, for real.
you know what it is not really important, DM. because it doesn't count in agency of the year and anyone can get away with anything there. and it is not the bird that fly in JWT office told me so, no at all, he told me it is all real ha hah haha ha it is real work. but who cares if it is not. come on it is JWT. honest.
16) TBWA Dubai - hand dial hand sanitizer
you know what it is a fast moving product, to boost it even more the client decided to do this campaign to boost the sales. or is it the opposite! and the client have seen it and approved like all the other campaigns what do you think, for sure
again this is another proof that we can do the same, check our client for this one HENKEL PDC EGYPT SAE . we can do it.
UPDATE how could i forget this one Mr. Lynx. the GREAT PRINT GRAND PRIX WINNER. that is on its own a piece of art to make it to the grand prix.
17) first Hamdallh the creative director of Leo Burnett Cairo - brave man he is - claimed during the Lynx debate while Lynx staff are watching and just before the awards ceremony that “Heinz didn’t commission or even like his Heinz Campaign (which won the GP later on)” well this is an honest man at least he admit it and get rewarded for it.
the equity of heinz ketchup is that ”it is thick ketchup..etc” all the campaigns in the world have been done around this single minded and focused proposition, however leo burnett wanted to change that in an awards campaign. and you know what. the client approved it just for the sake of the awards ONLY, at the end it is only one insertion, or was it more with on wrong equity. what a great piece! and a great reward! way to go lynx!
John Doh
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