Monday, June 09, 2014

11899: Seeing (RED) Over Cannes.

The 61st Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity will present the inaugural Cannes LionHeart Award to musician and activist Bono for spearheading (RED), described as “a creative fusion of branding, activism and philanthropy that has generated more than $250 million for the fight against AIDS in Africa.” Don’t mean to devalue the significant contributions (RED) has made, but to put things into adland perspective, $250 million is half the amount that Publicis Groupe and Omnicom Group will pay as a termination fee for the failed merger. And it’s a safe bet that Maurice Lévy and John Wren will be in attendance at the Cannes soiree, trying to rub elbows with the U2 superstar. For further perspective, the total annual compensation received by all the holding companies’ CEOs surpasses $100 million. Keep in mind that the CEOs’ payment packages cover one year—and (RED) was founded in 2006. Wonder how these figures compare to the financial investments made for diversity in the advertising industry.

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