You Sleep When You Die

I’ve never been one to run from a little criticism…or even harsh criticism for that matter. I can take it – my skin is thick. So when I caught shit last year for suggesting we get rid of all the excess surrounding Cannes – the huge entourages, extravagant parties, private yachts – I let it roll off my back. And boy did I catch some flak – you would have thought I said that we should get rid of the ad industry entirely!!

Should we strive to produce great creative? Of course. Should we even accept an award for it? Sure. But cut through all the other crap of Cannes and every other big awards show out there and focus on creating great work that works great.

I told you so.

A recent article in Ad Age announced the cancellation of many of the parties and other festivities scheduled at this year’s Cannes Festival. “You’d have to be tone-deaf to throw a big party this year in Cannes,” says DDB Worldwide CEO Chuck Brymer. According to the article, Cannes 2009 will be more focused on learning and improvement than parties and socializing.