What kind of creative excellence really deserves awards?
I’m currently driving from New York to LA and back (family holiday).
Somewhere between Columbus, Ohio and Triadelphia, West Virginia, I saw an Oreo truck, which made me think: who invented Oreos? And isn’t it fucking amazing how popular they’ve become and remained, across many countries?
Isn’t it funny how much we venerate music, movies and art, yet barely spare a thought for Etch-a-Sketches, Prets and biros, all of which often impact our lives in much more fundamental ways.
Look how creative Arctic Monkeys and 12 Years A Slave are! Watch as they sell a million albums or win a bunch of Oscars! Compared to the genius who discovered the Mars Bar combination of caramel, nougat and chocolate they are both gnats farts.
And no, I’m not saying that creativity is a popularity contest, but to have made such a consistent, positive and lasting impact on so many millions with an invention is surely a far greater act of creativity than an album whose shelf life is a couple of years at best.
You could even compare these other things to classics like Casablanca or St Pepper: they’ve lasted decades and still give the same enjoyment to subsequent generations that weren’t even born when they were invented.
Monopoly, Coke, Robertson’s Golden Shred, your favourite magazine, Clarins make up (or whatever brand you like), Levi’s, Tetris, cats eyes (the ones in the middle of roads), Post-Its, Le Creuset saucepans, the X-Box, Ray-Ban Wayfarers, your favourite blogs and podcasts, Pedigree Chum, a great pillow that holds its shape, the Rubik’s Cube, those Saucony trainers that take five seconds off your mile time, a Zippo lighter…
They may not have award shows at Cannes for all of the above (the product design section of D&AD has been eclectic enough to include the iPhone and a JCB, but very few of the kind of things you buy every day), but they ought to be as celebrated as any integrated, 360, mobile wankathon that might win a few Grands Prix.
As an example, here’s a massively-awarded spot from a while ago that might as well never have happened:
What’s a greater act of creativity, that or Cadbury’s Creme Eggs?
And what great creations do you think are more deserving of recognition?
What a brilliantly thought-provoking post. Cheers Ben.
This is not really a “creation” but for years there’s been this bit of spray-painted graffiti on a railway bridge in Hackney.
It says: ‘SUPPORT THE POLICE. BEAT YOURSELF UP’.
I’ve always admired its economy of words and loved its rare combination of sarcasm with social commentary. And wondered how many people it’s got thinking/inspired over the years. If there was a category in Cannes/D&AD/whatever for ‘creativity outside of marketing’, it’d get my vote.
Very good.
Hi Ben,
I realise that there are plenty of awards going to the alcohol industry’s various marketing departments, but to me, the actual brewing of commercial lager is a great example of creativity, for two reasons:
Reason one:
I’ve been home-brewing for a good number of years now (I’m not a hipster, by the way) and from experience I can tell you it is incredibly difficult to guarantee one batch will be identical to the next as there are so many variables that define how the beer will end up that achieving consistency is not an easy feat.
The fact that Budweiser (or Carling, or Fosters, etc.) can do this over and over again, on such a huge scale, is incredible.
Especially considering that they are always looking at news ways to keep costs low and quality at a reasonable level – for example, Budweiser is brewed partly with rice, as it gives the same output (fermentable sugars) but at a lower cost. They also force-carbonate the beer so they can increase production and reduce the amount of time the beer sits in the warehouse (which is really expensive).
Reason Two:
The bearded-hipsters outside Brew Dog may not like it, but brands like Budweiser are the reason why we have such a huge range of “craft” beers now.
And by actively rebelling against the big boys, the “craft-beer” movement has completely refreshed the industry.
They’ve pushed up the overall quality of beer (consumers now know how good it can be, so their expectations are higher); they are marketing beer in new, creative ways; their packaging is changing trends and, most annoyingly, they have also helped make it easier to charge more for less (£5 for 2/3s of a pint!? What the fuck is that about!?!?), making the industry more profitable and pubs more sustainable.
None of this would’ve been possible without industrial-scale creativity from the commercial brewers.
That’s genuinely fascinating. Thanks!
Brought to you by the Beer Council of America! That is very true. It’s also why you see precious few ‘craft’ lagers. It’s hard innit. I worked on Bud for years. I can guarantee you that adding rice to the ingredient mix was not a cost-saving idea. They were not penny pinchers. The diametric opposite in fact. That’s a craft brew lie!
Really? Wow, well I stand corrected! Thanks Vinny.
Presumably, then, rice is used to make it appear a lighter colour? I’d be interested to know.
Happy to help. The rice is what gives Bud it’s pleasingly snappy after-taste (bite?). that’s what the brewmasters told me.
A-B were obsessive about the ingredients to a very impressive degree. the chairman of the company would fly up to Idaho in his private jet to personally inspect the hops they were buying. these guys really knew their stuff.
Surely having an actual positive impact in real life should be the most important criterion. The guy/gal who put the nitrogen bubble in the can of Guinness gets my vote.
Exactly!
Wouldn’t it be great to be the designer of the Euro symbol?
Or even better, the creator of the Sports Direct mug?
What are your thoughts on the scamtastic ‘I SEA’ app winning at Cannes, Ben?
I hadn’t heard of it until your comment.
Agency: pathetic.
Jury: dismal
Situation: depressingly familiar.
Just checked out the ISea write-up.
What a fucking scam.
Ever since The Great ‘Life Paint’ Hustle, everyone is trying to win sparkly trinkets under the guise of ‘trying to make the world a better place’.
If you really want to make the world a better place, go work in a soup kitchen, or volunteer in charity shop and stop pretending you give a crap.
Anyone who couldn’t tell that iSea is currently impossible should be fucking sacked.
One of my favorite advertising ideas of all time is the Michelin guide because it started as a way to sell tires and is now the barometer for culinary excellence.
And I’d argue that the people who created the Oreo or Post Its see the piles of money they received as a better reward than any trophy. Even Nils said he regrets not acquiring part of Life Paint and making money off of it. (http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/features/creative-business/nils-leonard-on-how-make-stuff-people-actually-want/)
Our industry makes money off time, not results. And that’s why awards seem to matter so much.
He says Lifepaint was something Grey co-created.
So he’s saying they should take credit and be paid as inventor for sticking the name of one of their clients on someone else’s invention.
Oh dear…
And no idea about he Oreos person, but the Post-It’s guys was just paid his annual salary at 3M. He didn’t make loads of money from that invention.
Michelin guide=excllent.
Ah, I read his statement as a “we skinned something other than buying in to it” but that appears to be wrong.