Goafest: Leo Burnett withdraws two radio spots

The withdrawal followed a debate at the AGC last week that hinted the work was proactively done by the agency and was not genuinely released

Ad agency Leo Burnett has decided to withdraw two radio spots for Tata Salt Lite from the Goafest Creative Abbies, following a debate at the Awards Governing Council (AGC) last week. The council had hinted these spots weren't released in a genuine manner.

Today, in a letter to AGC chairman Shashi Sinha, Leo Burnett's India sub-continent chairman, Arvind Sharma, said, "I know there was some debate at the AGC about two Tata Salt Lite radio spots submitted by us. I recused myself from this debate and the AGC decided to award the spots. Today, a website alluded to this debate with unnecessary insinuations. We do not want any unwarranted insinuation about one of our prestigious clients and brands to continue. We request AGC to treat these two spots as withdrawn from our side."

The two spots for Tata Salt Lite, captioned 'Office' and 'Society', had fetched Leo Burnett two golds and two silvers in the radio and radio craft categories. Production house Lingo had bagged a gold for the 'Society' spot in the radio craft category. Now, these awards would be withdrawn from the Creative Abbies. Leo Burnett's tally would fall from 71 to 67; Lingo India would lose its sole medal.

In a statement, Tata Chemicals (the owner of Tata Salt) said, "It is unfortunate that our agency has been under the cloud of controversy regarding the recent Abby awards based on work done on our brand. The entire award submission process is one initiated and entirely managed by the agency; our role as a client was limited to approval of the creative. As a client, we were not aware of all the other technical requirements and subsequent process of submission criteria, etc. As soon as the inconsistencies were brought to our attention, and upon further enquiry, we concluded it would be appropriate for the agency to return the award to the organisers. We regret this incident, which only strengthens our resolve for and commitment to strict adherence to standards."

The issue of scam ads has been raging for about a month, following the controversy over the Ford Figo poster campaign and its entry into the Abbies by ad agency JWT, without the campaign being legitimately released. The campaign was short-listed in the first round. However, following widespread criticism over the projection of celebrities such as Paris Hilton, the Kardashian sisters, former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and former Formula One driver Michael Schumacher, the entry had to be withdrawn.