Cast your mind back to the 80s and 90s when advertising was a breeding ground for film industry talent, with the likes of Ridley and Tony Scott, Alan Parker, David Fincher and Jonathan Glazer all forging their careers in commercials before making it big in Hollywood.
By contrast, in recent years there has been much hand-wringing about the ad industry’s inability to lure the kind of talent that could make waves in the entertainment business. Advertising was viewed as film and TV’s poor cousin. But could all that be changing?
Cannes Lions always has lots of celebrities in attendance, but this year there seems to be more than ever, including Keke Palmer, Priyanka Chopra Jones, Jerry Bruckheimer, Stella McCartney, Alan Cumming, Colin Jost, Seth Myers, and, of course, the queen of them all, Oprah Winfrey. And let’s not forget the Festival’s stalwart sleb Will.i.am whom I believe would turn up to the opening of an envelope.
With every tech brand on the planet now setting out their stall on the Croisette, including OpenAI, which made its Cannes debut this year, and media giants and streamers, from Apple to Netflix firmly in situ, Cannes Lions is the epicentre of global media, tech and ad deal making.
All of which has led The Hollywood Reporter to assert that this year’s Cannes Lions feels more like Hollywood than the Cannes film festival. In its article on the Hollywoodification of the festival, the magazine quotes Cannes regular Paris Hilton who said: “I used to come to the Cannes Film festival, but I actually love Cannes Lions way better. I feel the people here are so brilliant and creative. I am just so constantly inspired.”
No doubt that sentiment will inflate the already sizeable egos of agency ECDs the world over.
But before the ad industry starts getting ready for its close-up, it’s worth bearing in mind that advertising has become a bit of a side show at Cannes Lions. Agencies and holding companies are massively outgunned by the tech and media giants in terms of presence at the festival.
Now that the eyes of the world seem to be turning in its direction, shouldn’t Cannes Lions should start giving more of a platform to the industry that started this whole circus in the first place? Perhaps that could be one of the reasons entries are down? Maybe then some of the glitz could actually rub off on adland.
Jane Austin is the founder and owner of Persuasion Communications.
