Ads move products, tell us about people

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This article was published 14/12/2024 (610 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

I almost never watch commercials anymore. In fact, I almost never even see commercials anymore.

I can skip them after a few seconds if they are served to me before a YouTube video. I can scroll past them if they pop up on my social media feeds. I don’t have cable anymore and, while some streaming services have introduced blocks of ads, I really don’t encounter commercials.

So, how weird it was to binge-watch 108 minutes of them at WAG-Qaumajuq on Tuesday night during the preview screening of the award-winning ads from the 2024 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. (Public screenings begin Friday, Dec. 20; visit wag.ca for the full schedule.)

Presented annually since 1954, the Cannes Lions are the coveted big kahunas in the advertising and communication industry, recognizing creative excellence from around the globe. That’s why I’ve always loved seeing the Lions. It’s a window on the world.

Advertising has a canny way of revealing cultural sensibilities and sensitivities. There’s an edgy French Canal+ commercial that I won’t spoil, but suffice to say its air traffic control-based humour probably wouldn’t fly in North America. There’s a cute spot for a non-carbonated drink perfect for those bottle-shaking, Argentine gesticulators.

There’s a hilarious Thai ad whose premise is hinged entirely on the fact that Sammakorn, the name of a real-estate company, sounds a lot like Sanpakorn, the country’s revenue department. Another Thai ad, this time for a life-insurance company, doubles as a harrowing examination of colourism, or discrimination based on skin tone.

A lot of the Cannes Lions are less like commercials and more like short films — such as Apple’s Swiped Mac ad about various safety and privacy features that felt like the backdoor pilot for an AppleTV+ show. (I will say that Apple was overrepresented in this year’s collection.)

Yes, there’s often a product to be hawked at the centre of them — whether that’s phones or paper products or ride-hailing apps — but I was struck by how many were about ideas.

The Sydney Opera House 50th anniversary ad, featuring a musical number by Australian multi-hyphenate talent Tim Minchin, is celebratory, but it also highlights the fact that many people thought that icon of the Sydney skyline was a ridiculous waste of money.

A commercial for Associated Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) awards features famous artists having their works constantly “improved” by clients, a delightfully meta commentary on how creativity can be killed by committee.

A U.S.-Canada co-production for the Courageous Conversation Global Foundation, meanwhile, offers a sharp satire of a luxury card ad in a spot called Driving While Black.

Obviously, not all commercials are produced to the level of Lions; we’ve all seen those bears who like to wipe their butts. But back when we all had to watch them — unless you risked flipping the channel or went to the kitchen for a snack, tasking a sibling with yelling “It’s back on!” — commercials were deeply embedded in the fabric of pop culture.

Budweiser’s Wassup? ad from the early 2000s, for just one example, was a proto meme, spawning a slew of parodies.

The Lions underline the idea that advertising, done well, is art. Like all art, it has the power to entertain, to challenge, to persuade, to connect, to change perspectives, to tell a story.

Watching this year’s Lions, I couldn’t help but think about the creativity and artistry that will be lost when more and more advertising is farmed out to AI. Which is already happening, by the way. This year, Coca-Cola used AI to create uncanny-valley approximations of its iconic annual holiday ads — the ones that made the brand synonymous with Santa Claus.

The Cannes Lions are a celebration of creativity. Which means they’re also, at least for now, a celebration of humanity.

jen.zoratti@winnipegfreepress.com