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As many as 20 entries have been disqualified in the print and outdoor categories. Among those set aside is the now infamous Kurl-On poster campaign by Ogilvy & Mather, which has raked up a storm abroad.
The campaign shows a cartoon of Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai being shot at point-blank range and she landing on a Kurl-On mat before she rises again. Two other ads in the campaign feature images of Mahatma Gandhi and Apple founder Steve Jobs.
The Malala ad has been criticised globally for being in poor taste. Ironically, the campaign was unpublished, uploaded to the web much the way the controversial Ford Figo campaign was by its creators at JWT last year. It may be recalled that the Ford Figo campaign had led to the ouster of JWT's chief creative officer, Bobby Pawar, and also put the Creative Abbies at the Goafest in a spot, since the campaign was believed to have been shortlisted at the awards.
Rajesh Kejriwal, founder, Kyoorius, says the Kurl-On campaign was disqualified before it could be shortlisted in the first round of judging on April 13. He declined to indicate the names of the other entries disqualified.
Advertising sources say print and outdoor is increasingly becoming a challenge for most organisers of ad awards, both globally and in India. The reason is the high level of ‘scamming’ — ads created solely for the purpose of winning awards, far more visible in these two categories vis-a-vis other segments such as TV and digital.
Sajan Raj Kurup, founder & creative chairman, Creativeland Asia, who has been vocal about scam ads staying out of the Goafest last year and this year, says there is hardly any genuine brand-building work in print and outdoor. “Much of the work entered in these categories at ad awards are those that one has hardly seen or heard of. It is common to see public service ads here or work done for a charity or non-governmental organisation. While not all of them can be called scam, genuine brand-building is not much,” he says.
