Twitter is blowing up with criticism toward an ad that won a Bronze Lion at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on Thursday.
"Don’t worry babe, I’m not filming this," is the tagline for an ad created by Brazilian agency Almap BBDO for Bayer aspirin. The type is in all caps in the middle of the bare, gray ad, otherwise only showing minuscule images of the Aspirina and CafiAspirina products. Many observers took to social media to accuse Bayer of condoning the filming of sexual activity without consent.
Cindy Gallop, former BBH executive and frequent industry critic, pointed out the ad's win on Twitter, writing, "Don’t use this to sell aspirin, male-dominated ad industry, and don’t award it, male-dominated juries."
Don't use this to sell aspirin, male-dominated ad industry, & don't award it, male-dominated juries. #canneslions pic.twitter.com/WRo46Txygz
— Cindy Gallop (@cindygallop) June 23, 2016
Posted at 6:45 a.m. ET, the tweet had already been retweeted 350 times and had received 294 likes by 2 p.m.
Creatives and consumers alike are speaking out on Twitter about the ad. Bayer could not be reached for comment.
In case you were wondering if the world of advertising awards is still capable of being tone deaf, the answer is yes https://t.co/z6tq91JP3B
— RJG (@rjgnyc) June 23, 2016
This inspires me to buy any brand other than Bayer. https://t.co/X6zAEyHIsq
— Shannon Michelle (@BlsdRtheChzmkrs) June 23, 2016
WTAF. This is so completely grim. Come on #CannesLions you're really going to award non-consensual filming of sex?! https://t.co/f9VKyvUxHm
— Polly Trenow (@pollytrenow) June 23, 2016
As a father of two daughters this makes me sick how does this win anything #CannesLions https://t.co/pxwGSDMWpV
— Eric L. Mitchell (@EricLMitchell) June 23, 2016
Maria Petrova, senior graphic designer at Anomaly, calls the ad "a new low" for the marketing industry:
A new low @Cannes_Lions — Bronze Lion for an ad hinting guy will record sex w/o woman's consent — thx @cindygallop https://t.co/leZp1hdcJS
— Maria Petrova ?? (@_MariaPetrova) June 23, 2016
Tweeter Ken Archer imagined the spot as the product of a male-dominated office.
@cindygallop I can just imagine the young women in low-level agency jobs forced to smile & nod while these concepts are presented by execs.
— Ken Archer (@kenarchersf) June 23, 2016
According to another tweet of Gallop’s, the jury was made up of 11 men and 7 women.
#canneslions outdoor jury that awarded @almapbbdo @bayer bronze: 11 men, 7 women. Jury Pres @ricjohn77 @jwt_brasil pic.twitter.com/8ZsP4yoDXK
— Cindy Gallop (@cindygallop) June 23, 2016
This isn't the first Cannes 2016 incident to provoke accusations of blatant sexim. A party invitation sent out by VaynerMedia Wednesday invited "attractive females and models only" to attend. VaynerMedia CEO Gary Vaynerchuk, who condemned the invitation and blamed a third-party booker, told Campaign US he did not see the email as a representation of sexism in the ad industry but a typical approach for a party at a club.
UPDATE:
Almap BBDO has responded by removing the Bayer work from the festival.
Their statement:
"All Bayer work created by Almap BBDO has been withdrawn from the Festival. The work was approved by the local client to be run in Brazil. However, the media was paid for by ALMAP BBDO which contravenes the Cannes entry regulations. We regret this and apologize to the festival organizers and our client for any embarrassment caused."
Bayer also issued a statement about the sexist ad. Their response:
"The concept was presented to our local marketing team in Brazil by BBDO as one of several campaigns that the agency intended to submit for this year’s Cannes Lions festival. In order to meet the requirements for submission to Cannes, BBDO paid for limited placement in Brazil. Bayer has not advertised Aspirin through any channel in Brazil for several years. We have asked that BBDO discontinue any further use, dissemination or promotion of this campaign."