In light of the One Show and D&AD putting their feet down about scam ads, the Art Directors Club is following suit with its own statement about this sordid subject.
While touching upon program guidelines that include “more elaborate authorization and confirmation details required from both agency and client,” the ADC issues some words of warning that read as follows:
“Your secret is not safe with us. If we find an entry to be fake, the agency and client in question will be disqualified. Then, for the first time starting this year, we’ll take the additional step to communicate directly with other industry awards organizations and inform them about the scam ad so they too can be on the lookout and take action. We call upon other awards organizations to reciprocate.
ADC realizes some interesting creative ideas never get approved or run. In cases like this, agencies may enter the work in the ADC Annual Awards Playground category, created four years ago specifically for work that for one reason or another never got approved by the client, or never ran.”