• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, June 23, 2011

JWT North America CEO and Worldwide Digital Director David Eastman is doing his best to draw a connection between the human drama of the Arab Spring uprisings and Madison Avenue, but it is an awkward and tenuous one. Eastman, who is moderating the "power to the people" panel at the Cannes Lions Festival, just asked Egyptian filmmaker Amr Salama if he would ever consider producing an ad campaign, and Salama's response, surprisingly, sounded as like that of any top Madison Avenue creative:

"First of all, I have to say what I want to say. I want creative control," though he added a second important criterion, " have to make sure this corporation isn't saying something that is harmful to the people."

Sticking with Madison Avenue connection, Eastman asked the panel what they thought about an attempt by Gillette to utilize the image of an Arab uprising survivor who lost his eye in the conflict, and who happened to be captured standing under a Gillette ad.

Kuwaiti filmmaker Jehane Noujaim seemed outraged by that, noting, he was "just standing under a Gillette ad... Here's a guy who lost his eye during the revolution. People want truth and authenticity. You have to put your selves in the position of people who have lost friends, who have been in prison, in life and death situations, and to use this for branding?"