Ghost ads are the bane of Cannes Lions. The event specifies that all entries must be able to prove that work submitted was actually carried out for a “fee-paying client”. Yet every year, awards are withdrawn when it is found that this is not the case.
The latest agency to be busted by Cannes Lions is Brazilian agency Moma Propaganda, who lost their Silver Lion in the Press category and the Bronze Lion in Outdoor for the Kia Motors air conditioning dual zone campaign ‘Teacher’ and ‘Princess’.
The ads proved controversial in Cannes itself, due to their portrayal of a man with young girls, and wre immediately dubbed the “paedophile” ads. They also proved too much for car manufacturer Kia, which pointed out that they had never commissioned them, had never worked with Moma and found them “very inappropriate”.
The agency is now banned from submitting work next year. This will doubtless fuel discussions again about how to eliminate ghosts before they reach the finals.