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Wanted: dirt-cheap creative
Apparently so, at least in the eyes of Forbes.com, which e-mailed agencies in late October, offering barter in exchange for an online ad campaign to complement bus posters that boast, “More people get their business news from Forbes.com than any other source in the world.” And, by the way, no need to meet with client executives. Just mail (or e-mail) them your creative ideas. But remember, to qualify, get those world-altering ideas in by 11:59 p.m. EST on Dec. 1! This week, Forbes.com was expected to name three “winners”: the Grand Prize winner (holiday party for up to 50 people, two $500 American Express gift cards and dinner for six at the “famous Forbes Townhouse”), First Place (two $200 gift cards) and Second Place (two $100 gift cards). But, to find out who won, you have to mail a self-addressed postcard to the client. Seriously. It’s spelled out in the contest’s official rules. At least one recipient was so incredulous at the bar-lowering request for dirt-cheap creative that she wanted to fire off an op-ed piece. But AdFreak, in the spirit of the holiday season, offered to take on the job, pro-bono. Nope, there was no “Grand Prize” for best blog entry, either. —Posted by Andrew McMains |
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December 10, 2004 | Permalink |
Comments
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Why are you guys suprised by this? After all, you've just profiled Jelly Helm and his "12" school where people are paying for the privilege of working at Wieden & Kennedy. You're not questioning whether that's a good idea or not. But now you're seeing clients try to get away with getting ideas for nothing, as well. The downward spiral continues.
David Gould
crofa@aol.com
Posted by: David Gould | Dec 10, 2004 1:25:44 PM
The folks at AdFreak really know how to spoil a party. The Forbes.com contest was meant to be fun and provide an excuse to throw a party and share some holiday cheer with the agency and client people we like and work with every day. This was not a serious request for free ad ideas. I thought at first the comments from Andrew McMains were going to be presented with “tongue in cheek” as a statement about the sad state of affairs within the creative ad community. But it wasn’t witty or funny—just mad and sad.
Bruce H. Rogers
V.P. Marketing
Forbes.com Inc.
Posted by: Bruce Rogers | Dec 10, 2004 6:14:26 PM
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