What normally graces Cinéma du Parc’s screen? Besides popcorn, art house films, subtitled foreign flicks, quirky indie productions, and cult favourites all make-up the typical fare. Well, push those cinematic ambitions aside.
For the next two weeks, the silver screen’s new star is something a little more unusual: advertising. The Cannes Lion 2008 Awards are rolling into town for the Montreal leg of a Canadian tour featuring an impressive two-hour line-up of the best in ads.
Every year since 1954, alongside the Cannes Film Festival’s actual films, both print and television ads compete for the Lion d’Or, the industry’s best in show. This year, Canadian ad agencies took home five Lions.
The festival’s goal is to make viewers rethink the way advertisements are normally perceived: as nuisances. Commercials keep you from the next part of Grey’s Anatomy. Billboards are ubiquitous, imposing their messages as we wait in the metro or idle on the highway. Think of the colourfully cheesy 80’s throwbacks from Koodo Mobile, or the dripping-with-sex Buffalo posters on Sherbrooke. They’re annoying and, as everyone who’s read Adbusters knows, 100 per cent evil. Right?
In reality, it’s hard to dislike the festival’s prize-winning advertisements. They’re incredibly entertaining, and at the same time thought-provoking. Now, ads are rarely anyone’s first choice for entertainment. But, as these 30-second spots prove, that doesn’t diminish their ability to shock, amuse, and amaze. What’s more, they approach tired concepts in novel ways, catching viewers off guard and dazzling them with their creativity.
Event organizer Gabriel-Thomas Leclerc went to Cannes this year and was blown away by the creativity and all the ideas on display; he had to bring it all to Montreal.
“It’s great to look at something other than your own belly button,” he said. “This is for people to come and see.”
Among the best and most surprising ads, is the one where Martin Scorsese shills champagne while “remaking” an unmade Hitchcock classic. There was also the hilarious D7 Thai coffee drink one, which fights crooks and corruption. As for the top prizes, let’s just say that one of them went to an inspired ad featuring a gorilla and Phil Collins.
Hopefully, these ads’ creativity and daring will inspire juicy advertising fodder for our city and metro walls. The ads on display are amazing. But are they art? Get down to Cinéma du Parc and decide for yourself.
The Cannes Lions 2008 World’s Best Ads run at Cinéma du Parc until Nov. 28. Call (514) 281-1900 for more information.
Comments are closed.