In writing, Leo Burnett’s winning entry for the 4A’s TruthBrief Competition almost sounds like a Sporcle quiz: advertisements stripped of logos were turned into artwork.Visually, the Leo Burnett submission – titled “4 Le Communique Art Show” – was meant to show that advertising and art don’t have to be mutually exclusive. The agency produced an art show at a college campus with the logoless works of art. Although you can’t clearly see the the art in the video above (I’m not sure why), the concept still lends itself to thoughtful debate about the relationship between commercialism, creativity, and art.
The competition called for entries that could “improve advertising’s image and attract a new generation of talent into the advertising business.” Considering it’s generally accepted that a majority of ads are boring and/or terrible, the competition seems like a worthy endeavor. As for Leo Burnett, now that the art is over, the agency can go back to handling it’s mega-commercial clients like McDonald’s, The Coca-Cola Company, and Kellogg’s.