Today I came across an interview of Prasoon Joshi by Exchange4Media where Prasoon expressed his concern and unhappiness about the stringent judging process at this years Abby. He compared the process with some international award shows like Dubai Lynx and the Cannes. He talked about the lack of trust and flexibility given to the jury members at this years Abby. Prima facie these arguments and views sound great but one needs to look at the history of Abby and the controversies around it. I have been away from India for last 9 years but I still remember the award functions that I attended as a young account executive. There was lot of good work but along with that there were quite a few entries that were scam. Most of them appeared in one obscure local newspaper/billboard in a tier 3 town. But inspite of that metals were awarded to such scams.
I think the advertising industry in general is getting carried away by the creative awards. I’m not against awards as it motivates people to do great work but it should not motivate people to work that is actually not meant for clients and audiences. It is our professional responsibility to create winning advertising and not just ‘award winning advertising’.
With all the due respect to Prasoon (and I do like his work) he should introspect rather than blame the stringent procedure. I guess the organizers put the watchdog in place because in the past jury members didn’t act appropriately and that led to controversies. I personally think the industry should be thanking the advertisers for keeping the awards clean and avoiding controversies.
