Years ago, a friend of mine and a handful of others were picked by an executive creative director at an NYC agency to work on a new campaign. Their marching orders were to "create something so good, we'll all be in Cannes next year." As ego-driven as it sounds (and there was a bit of ego involved), the ECD was trying to make a point: The account was a hair away from going up for review, so the agency needed to create something big and bold to turn the account around.

And he really did want to go to Cannes.

Look for plenty of chest-thumping, alcohol-fueled, self-indulgent celebrations in the ad community this week. Why is it different from any other day at the office? It's Cannes Lions week, the Oscars of the ad industry. It's a measure of what we consider great among our peers.

You can catch the highlights on the official Cannes Lions Site here: http://www.canneslions.com/

And you can see Adweek's predictions here: bit.ly/aHSpH5
We happen to agree on a personal favorite of mine  — this experiential promotion for Nokia. It's too bad the agency Farfar doesn't exist anymore.

As for my friend, she and her creative team did come up with some great work that saved the account for another three years. Unfortunately, the account did eventually leave and some of them lost their jobs. My friend left for another agency before the hit.

That ECD did go to Cannes that year and he returned home with a Lion — but for another body of work.