The advertising industry is not exactly renowned for taking the piss out of itself. Indeed, the only major zeitgeist defining piece of entertainment set around the industry in recent memory (Mad Men) glamorised ad land to almost the point of fetishism. It appears that's all about to change though, with the recent announcement of the Dannes Lions Festival of Advertising. And no, that's not a typo. The announcement was made and captured on film yesterday by Daniel Sheppard, the festival's founding director and sole Judge and Jury. “This is a very exciting day. For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by advertising and the idea of mixing my own body with a lion’s body and turning it into a trophy,” said Sheppard. “This is an effort to celebrate both. While we have some budgetary limitations because this is our first year, we hope that what we lack in Rosé, we make up for in mostly safe drinking water.”
The Dannes Lions 2015 is the first legitimate spoof awards ceremony for the advertising industry
The festival, which is an obvious spoof of the Cannes Lions Festival (and a play on the founder's name of course), is hosting it's inaugural event this year. The idea is to celebrate comedy in advertising, and does so by asking for submissions of work from creative agencies across the world. Any of the submissions that Sheppard personally deems worthy are then mailed a Dannes Lions Award, and their accomplishments are also immortalised on the official website. The event is one of those rare stunts that's kind of a hoax, but not entirely. It's impossible to tell whether or not anyone will actually take the Dannes Lions seriously yet, but the few awards (featuring Sheppard's face fused onto a lion's body) that have been 'handed out' so far appear to have gone to some pretty reputable agencies. The three pieces picked out thus far include spots by Grey London for Lucozade and Leo Burnett for Esurance. The award will last until all 100 trophies have been awarded.
Dannes Lions 2015 – Call For Entries
Sheppard himself is an advertising enthusiast, filmmaker and (obviously) a wannabe comedian. It's not 100% clear why he chose to set the fake festival in the small, gentle farming town of Dannes (just south of Calais), but I'd wager it probably has something to do with the fact it gives him an excuse to mock the most famous advertising festival in the world, and do so using his own name in the title. He adds: “In an effort to further manage expectations there are no hotels in Dannes, but there is the Camping Municipal du Mont St. Frieux in the dunes on the English Channel and I have been told several local buildings have bathrooms.” To underline the joke, Sheppard has included a 'live feed' on the website from the 'festival,' which really has to be seen to be believed.
The idea is to celebrate comedy in advertising, and does so by asking for submissions of work from creative agencies across the world
Daniel Sheppard
The Dannes Lions website is pretty sparse thus far, with little more than a brief “About Us” page letting us in on exactly what the 'Awards' entail. It states: “Located in the farming and light industrial village of Dannes, France the Dannes Festival of Advertising is something that, for some reason, exists. If you work in the ad industry and make funny commercials, you may have a chance at winning 1 of 100 Dannes Gold Lion trophies.” It's not exactly Monty Python, but at least it shows there are at least a few rare souls knocking about ad land who are up for a laugh! So if you think your agency might have created a piece of work with some genuine comedic value in the last two years, why not give it a shot! Submission is 100% free so what have you got to lose?
Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer and struggling musician from Kidderminster in the UK.
