McCann opts out of the Abbys

McCann Erickson will not be taking part in the Abby awards to be held during Goafest this year.

Prasoon Joshi, executive chairman, McCann Erickson India and regional creative director for Asia Pacific, has attributed the reason behind their non-participation at the award show this year to their body of work which he says does not feature, what he terms as award friendly work.

“We will be taking part in Goafest but we will not participate in the award shows this year. The main reason for that is because we don’t think we have a lot of award friendly work this year. I have always maintained that we are there to support all industry functions. But it’s only fair that if you have good work, you should participate and if you don’t, you shouldn’t."

"I would say we have more hard working work in the year that passed. Last year was tough, and we had issues at hand to deal with. Many of our clients did not run fresh work, they stayed with old campaigns. We were clear about what our priorities were last year," he added.

Joshi feels there hasn’t been enough introspection around the controversies that hounded the award shows last year. He added, "I believe the discussion around the Abbys is still pending. Every year there is some controversy that crops up. For example, we still don’t have clarity on whether the tally is bigger or the Grand Prix. The spirit with which I would like to go to the Abbys is yet to be instilled in all of us. There are a lot of things that need to be done around the award show. There are meetings planned on Goafest. I would like to contribute wherever I am asked to help out, with ideas. It is imperative that Goafest becomes the most prestigious function that there is, because that has become the premier advertising function in India. If the west wants to come and understand the industry here, Goafest is the only option that is present. So, it is important that it stands for the right values and that work is celebrated in the right spirit. We need to give the right signals to our youngsters, so they know what we stand for and our definition of great work."