If you’re even slightly tuned in to the global advertising world, you probably know the Cannes Lions, aka the Olympics of advertising. Once known as the most prestigious platform to recognise ads and case studies from around the world, Cannes has now hit a bit of an identity crisis.

The festival’s reputation took a hit this year after the now-infamous DM9 scandal, where a Grand Prix-winning campaign was quietly pulled after it had already won following serious doubts about its legitimacy. An investigation found that the agency used AI-generated and manipulated content in its entry, thus breaching the festival’s rules.

But if that was the case, how did it win in the first place? While the details were murky, the message this scandal sent out was loud and clear: not everything at Cannes is as glamorous (read legitimate) as it looks under the spotlight.

This one scandal wasn’t a standalone oopsie. It cracked open a door many in the industry had already been noticing for quite a while: the politics behind the curtains. From bribery, collusion, to lobbying, nothing is out of the question today.

Holding company execs pull strings backstage, agency judges boost their own campaigns, and rival work gets quietly downvoted out of the running.

Creative Awards or Political Trophies? 

Here’s the thing: Cannes has always been a bit of a spectacle. We get it: creativity deserves a red carpet. But lately, it feels less like a celebration of brilliance. Perhaps, the purpose of the festival seems to have drifted.

If ad awards were meant to reward the boldest, smartest, most resonant ideas, then why does it often feel like we’re just rewarding whoever played by the book the best? The kind of campaign that ticks all the right boxes, features just the right amount of AI, and ends with a slow zoom on a tearful consumer holding a product.

While Cannes set the bar for many local awards, lately, they’re starting to look like a very expensive group project where the loudest person gets the credit.

Are Local Awards Blameless? 

Now, let’s not pretend this is just a “foreign” issue. Pakistan’s advertising scene has its own love affair with awards, some bigger than others. (We all know who they are!)

To be fair, awards do matter. Hard work and creativity, after all, should be celebrated. But somewhere along the way, this creativity has been buried under heaps of jargon, fancy decks, and case study videos narrated like Oscar trailers. What’s even worse is that judges often lack the expertise required to evaluate entries. Of course, when decision makers are unqualified, should their choices be trusted?

And so, you’ll often spot the same agencies, same campaigns, and occasionally the same results. And while most folks won’t say it out loud, plenty are wondering: is it still about great work, or just great networking?

The Ultimate Risk? Good Work Suffers

When awards become a game of politics, guess who suffers? The creatives who actually care. The teams that really work hard, the interns who sit late, the managers who go the extra mile. They’re the ones who start questioning whether it’s worth taking risks when awards don’t really serve the best ideas, but networking.

Larger corporations, with more influence and more resources, overshadow smaller players, which leaves independent firms losing the race before they can even fight for the scraps.

The danger is bigger than one rigged award or one sketchy campaign. It’s a slow erosion of trust, and once that goes, what’s left?

So… Are Awards a Sham?

Maybe not all. But it is impossible to avoid the impact of nepotism, favouritism, and influence in today’s award atmosphere, throughout the world and even in Pakistan!

If we keep worshipping trophies without questioning how they’re won, we risk turning our most celebrated ideas into hollow victories.

So here’s a thought: maybe we should stop treating trophies like the measure of greatness. Let’s celebrate ideas that moved people, not just juries. Let’s reward creativity that challenged, not just conformed.

Because if the awards don’t really mean anything anymore, who, exactly, are we clapping for?

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