• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, June 18, 2014

Well, it's about time someone stood up to this idiocy. The Association of Independent Commercial Producers and the Association of Independent Creative Editors have sent a strongly worded letter blasting Mars Inc.'s new 120-day payment policy. The AICP said the practice would "simply decimate the way the industry operates" and the AICE called the policy "patently unfair." Defending the 120-day policy, Mars spokesman Ryan Bowling said that it will be gradually put in place and with gleefully noncommittal, mealy-mouthed blather, added: "We are looking at all categories but I can't confirm what industry or what suppliers, due to confidentiality." And then with complete disregard and insanely twisted logic, Bowling added: "We look at what is mutually beneficial. That's our No. 1 priority with each supplier." Mutually beneficial? Exactly how is making a partner/suppliers wait 120 days to get paid mutually beneficial? Who in their right mind can sling this bullshit with a straight face?

So who won what in Cannes last night? Norwegian agency Anti Bergen won the Design Grand Prix Lion for its Bergen International Festival brand campaign. adam&eveDDB London won the Press Grand Prix for the Harvey Nichols "Sorry I Spent It on Myself" campaign. The agency also won the Promo & Activation Grand Prix for the same work. G-Star Raw Amsterdam and FHV BBDO Amsterdam won the Product Design Grand Prix for "Raw for the Ocean." Ogilvy Johannesburg won the Radio Grand Prix for its Lucozade "Give Me Strength" campaign. Dentsu Tokyo won a Gold Cyber Lion for Honda's "Sound of Honda." CAA won a Cyber Grand Prix for Chipotle’s "The Scarecrow." Forsman & Bodenfors Gothenburg won a Cyber Grand Prix for Volvo Trucks’ "Live Test Series." Iconoclast Paris and Pharrell Williams won a Cyber Grand Prix for "24 Hours of Happy."

McCann has announced the promotion of John Mescall to the new role of global executive creative director. Mescall is currently executive creative director of McCann Australia, a position he has held since October 2011. Mescall will relocate to New York in the coming months and join recently announced Global ECD’s James Dawson-Hollis and Bill Wright as part of McCann Worldgroup Global Creative Chairman Rob Reilly’s initiative to strengthen the agency’s creative leadership. Of the move, Reilly said: “John’s all talent and no ego and he has helped lead McCann Australia to become one of the best agencies in the world. John now has the opportunity to magnify what he does on a global stage. I am certain that John’s reputation for delivering stellar work will be a magnet for recruiting the best and brightest to McCann." A writer and creative director, Mescall has won more than 30 Cannes Lions, including 5 Grand Prix for Metro Trains “Dumb Ways to Die” and in 2014 1 Grand Prix for Creative Effectiveness for V/Line. His other awards include: Black and Yellow Pencils at D&AD, Best of Show at The One Show, and multiple Clio and Webby awards.

Jared Leto had all kinds of things to say when he was on stage with Benjamin Palmer of The barbarian Group. But when it came to advertising, he couldn't contain his excitement and offered up a bit of existentialism, saying: "I actually love advertising. I rail against it sometimes, because I don't think the world can be solved by advertising alone. I think that's a bad mission. I also think that if it's creative, it's not advertising. If it's creative, it's entertaining and informative. It's a conversation. When advertising is great, it's transcendent. It's art."

While it's no surprise that clients and agencies do not see eye to eye on many things, seeing that notion represented in a study takes on an entirely different tone. Conducted by RPA and USA Today, the study -- appropriately released during Cannes Lions this week -- found that 61% of marketers and 70% of agency executives do not share the same vision of creativity. Furthermore, just 25% of marketers believe creative work can make a dent in a brand's business, while 48% of agency executives believe creative can impact business. Most agency executives -- 75% -- say clients are too afraid to take risks, while 56% of marketers claim their agencies are more interested in selling them cool creative rather than solving business issues. And while 88% of clients believe they are open and honest with their agencies, just 36% of agency executives believe this to be the case .