What “Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity” is about? The whole thing takes place in France and it is the largest event for the advertising-communication industry. In five days advertising agencies, and individuals too are coming to this global “gathering” to present their work, their campaigns, and discuss about creativity and innovation in brand communication. The general purpose here, apart from the Lions Award, is to create possible partnerships, increasing their contacts, their reputation and build their name on the field, by talking about the advertising industry in general. The week’s activities include multiple award ceremonies as well as an opening and closing gala.
Before I start talking more of what we did here, after watching the campaigns in fesival, I would like to say first that the reson I am here sharing my opinion about Cannes Lions Festival is my attendance in AD Discovery and Creativity Lab. It is actually a lesson provided in Panteion University, is 4th semester. Betty Tsakarestou, teacher of the LAb push us to search about this thing and make a project about it by finding our own campaign from all to present as our best in class. As tiring as it was I think I liked this one more than the other projects. It was interesting and fan to see how these people in the campaign worked, their beliefs, their goals, and their effort to defend their campaign accross the “haters”!
So after looking around in the official site and watching many of the campaigns that were presented in 2018, we found our favourite one!
Campaign —THE TALK — by Procter & Gamble !
•Country — United States
•AD Agency — BBDO
•Advertiser/Brand — Procter & Gamble
•Category — Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
•27 Awards
Few years ago, in 2006 Procter & Gamble has started a campaign called MY BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL in order to defend black women’s beauty. In that time there were not so many black women working in the beauty industry. People were not used to it. So black women were facing criticism and rude comments about their skin colour and “how ugly that was”! So P&G started this campaign to stop these bias. But unfortunatelly people’s racism stilll exists and it is expanded as opposed to be contained.
P&G in cooperation with BBDO decided to take action again by expanding their original idea and make “THE TALK” campaign. A small video that showing how white people treating the black ones as ‘ worse ’ meaning in skills, meaning more dangerous, meaning differently. So the whole idea is about moms talking to their children of how do they have to bahave to survive in this racist society, that they are going to hear “ugly” words, suffer unfair behavior or isolation in school, and hear that they are not smart enough or beautiful, and that they are going to be pulled over by the police and be treated as criminals and not as people. NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE BAD, OR SILLY OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT. NONE OF THIS IS TRUE. BUT BECAUSE THEY ARE BLACK. So there is the need of THE TALK, the warning that moms do to their children to protect them and make sure that they are NOT going to stop be who they are, stop trying to be the best version of themselves, stop considering themselves as beautiful, stop driving, STOP LIVING, just because someone stranger dislike their colour. Mothers teach their children to be positive, strong and confident enough to overcome difficulties like bias during every new start of their lives.
BUT WHY BLACK CHILDREN AND EVEN ADULTS HAVE TO FACE BIAS IN AN EVERY DAY LEVEL!?
That is why P&G made this campaign. TO STOP THE TALK, stop it from being necessary. We live in a “modern world”. We all are people. Just equal human beings, with the same rights and same insticts. If someone is “bad” or dangerous person it is not the colour the reason about it. When you discourage a CHILD of what he or she is trying to accomplish or telling them they are ugly, what this is making you? The good one? The harmless one? I don’t think so, you know why?..you may just traumatized a child, or maybe not but not because you didn’t try, but because he/she learned how to be smarter than you, stronger than you, during having THE TALK.
The whole idea came from a show named BLACK-ISH. In a specific episode titled: “The Talk”.The story of course was exatly the one that I explained before. Parents do the talk with their black children about what they are going to come through cause people fear what is different. So P&G worked with ABC to make this campaign, the stories in the clip are real and this makes the whole message even greater. In this clip P&G are not promoting any of their products to point out the message and move people to react in bias. I can tell that the campaign had a great impact, and P&G hosted many conversations with community leaders, professionals and journalist about bias and discrimination against black people.
There were also people against the whole idea, who accused P&G of racist message against police authorities. But in my opinion facts are talking themselves. As I said the stories in clip are real. So there are not any accusations, only the truth. P&G managers said that their goal was not to be likable but to make a difference to start a conversation and they did. America started talking about it!
