It was a simple case of misunderstanding.
Yesterday we reported about the alleged misrepresentation committed by a Dubai ad agency when it joined the product design category at Cannes Lion. It was for Lucky Iron Fish, created by Canadian Christopher Charles to introduce iron into the diet of Cambodians.
According to Singapore agency Arcade, Dubai’s Geometry made it appear like they were the ones who created Lucky Iron Fish.
But it appears that Lucky Iron Fish company was aware of the Cannes Lions participation in Cannes Lion from the beginning and had given Geometry its blessing.
“Geometry is a PR and communications firm that represents Lucky Iron Fish. We collaborated on the submission to the Cannes Lions Festival and have received an incredible amount of support. We were present at the awards ceremony and could not be more thrilled with the number of awards we received,” Tania Framst, vice president for operations of Lucky Iron Fish, told Coconuts Singapore.
Gavin Armstrong stated:
“Based on my understanding of the entry mechanism at the Cannes Lions festival, we gave Geometry Global approval to be the entrant for all Lucky Iron Fish entries, with full credit to Lucky Iron Fish and other participating entities. There has been no intention to misrepresent the role of Geometry Global or the campaign in the entry or any communications. I was present during the event and received each of the Lions award on stage. I also presented to the Judges for the Innovation award.”
Geometry Global also made the following statement:
“Geometry Global Dubai and Memac Ogilvy MENA are proud to have partnered with the creators of the Lucky Iron Fish product to bring wider exposure and commercial success to this important public health innovation. We have been transparent in our award entries about the contributions of all the players including Gavin Armstrong, CEO of Lucky Iron Fish, Dr. Chris Charles, Director on the Board of Lucky Iron Fish, and all of the supporting agencies. The product design and prototype were created by Lucky Iron Fish; Geometry Global helped to introduce the product to a wider audience.
With the misunderstanding that there could only be a single entrant company across all categories, we entered the Product Design category on behalf of our client and were therefore named ‘entrant company’. Our approach was in full agreement with Lucky Iron Fish company and all partners were credited in the entry. We now understand that Product Design could have been entered directly by Lucky Iron Fish without Geometry Global and Memac Ogilvy as an ‘entrant company.’ Therefore, we have agreed with the Cannes Lions that Lucky Iron Fish should be the sole recipient of the Grand Prix in Product Design, as accepted by CEO Gavin Armstrong during the ceremony in Cannes on Wednesday night. It is an honour to be partners of Lucky Iron Fish, and we are pleased that it has garnered recognition by the Cannes Lions juries. We look forward to being part of the continued success of this project.”
From our perspective, as the organisers of Cannes Lions, this satisfies the requirements of the competition and closes the matter.
Photo: Fast Company
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