Bob Isherwood "kidnapped" in Cannes 2016

by: Dabitch, Jun 20 2016 - 1:57pm

‘Can trolling be a force for good in advertising?’ is a seminar due to be held later today at the Forum in Cannes, to draw attention to it Bob Isherwood was 'kidnapped' and three masked men read out a ransom note as the former worldwide creative director of Saatchi & Saatchi acts tied up and messed up.
The "ransom note" challenges the creative community to demand a reply from the cannes Lions organisers whether the statues are ethically produced. Prank or poor taste - considering recent events in Brussels and Paris and the heightened security around Cannes itself this week. The old kidnap troll usually gets some attention, not all positive. Hopefully Hasan and Partners' seminar has fresher ideas in it.

“We love advertising and marketing but we can no longer watch silently when the world is being destroyed by outright lies, corruption and immorality.

“To demonstrate this, we tried to find out whether the production of Cannes Lions statues stands the light of day. We found sources that claim the statues are produced in terrible working conditions in shady sweatshops. We tried to confirm the information with the festival organisers but did not get an answer.

“You, the creative industry, must demand an answer to this question! How are the Cannes Lions statues produced? What are the conditions and rights of the workers? Go to the organisation and get a response.

“We are not alone, millions of people want to move to a more ethical consumption. Answer these questions publicly, develop your activities and release Bob. You have until dawn tomorrow to answer our questions To increase the pressure, we produced our own statues, ethically. Until you answer our questions we will give out thirty of these ethically produced statues per day.”