As if the industry wasn’t fake enough already…
April 1, 2008
Fake ads plague the industry — but this is taking it to a whole new level. Someone at Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore is selling some massive tales it seems — award-winning ones — but ones that can come back to bite you on the ass really badly.
Brand Republic Asia has all the sorrid details:
“Roger Makak (pictured), the creative ranked number one in Campaign Brief Asia’s recently released rankings, has been exposed as a work of fiction created by Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore.
Speaking to Media, Campaign Brief Asia publisher Kim Shaw said: “From our point of view we’re disappointed that this agency chose to use a false name for work done by someone else.”According to Shaw, Makak is actually a nom de plume for the agency’s regional creative director Andy Greenaway, who said: “He does exist, but not in the form you might think. He goes bananas sometimes.” Greenaway added that more would be revealed in one week.“I think they were trying to dupe the whole industry and then come out with some fantastic award concept at the end that would appeal to other ECDs,” said Shaw. “But, of course, because he ended up winning our rankings it’s come out very quickly that this guy doesn’t exist.”“At first, I was really angry because I felt for (Creative Juice ECD) Thirasak who came second and he would have been the first person to win it twice,” continued Shaw. “But if Andy is in fact Roger, my comment is I’m disappointed that it’s not Andy topping the rankings.”
Saatchis Singapore has won a swathe of metal at awards shows across the globe over the past year, with Makak credited heavily on almost of all the award-winning entries. He was ranked fifth in Media’s ranking of young creatives last year.”
What are the opinions of the assembled here? Give a holler and let us know…
April 1, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Blatant faking of ads for awards is running rampant in the industry. (see everything from Saatchi NY if your looking for recent examples) Singapore has been doing it openly for years and winning awards despite it. Maybe they are finally getting some morals. Doubt it.
April 1, 2008 at 3:05 pm
I think it’s kinda cool.
Who cares if they created a persona for their better work. They still did the work, no?
April 1, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Lighten up, it’s frickin advertising. Fake stuff abounds, even for awards. And we all know that judging is completely subjective, so live with it.
April 1, 2008 at 4:27 pm
No you shut up!
April 1, 2008 at 4:31 pm
i remember being at the one show to collect my prize for real ads i did and there were all these people from singapore there collecting metal for the fakest shit i’ve ever seen in my life. it was really frustrating. award show judges should be onto that crap by now. but most of them are big bloated has beens who are completely out of touch anyway.
April 1, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Funny that it had to be Andy, he has built his whole career on fake ads.
April 1, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Hey april1st, there is NO ‘lightening up it’s just advertising.’
However inane the system is, awards can lead to jobs which can lead to more money and a better position for some people. So you are cheating against others and padding your resume with fake work.
In every industry, in every aspect of life this is the legal definition of FRAUD.
Most anything that wins in that region is scam anyway. People hide behind the excuse that i’ts the only way people can ‘make a name for themselves’ in those regions. Bullshit. Plenty of people get jobs on spec.
April 1, 2008 at 8:18 pm
The bit that’s clearly wrong here is if as stated this ficticious guy won “best young creative” as Andy is no spring chicken. Seems really foolish to play this game me
April 2, 2008 at 3:50 am
Nobody takes creatives in that part of the world seriously anyway. They could not make a real ad if their trip to cannes depended on it.
April 2, 2008 at 6:16 am
In Asia this is how things work.
You vote for me I vote for you.
Popularity contests galore,
friends voting for each other.
A lot of the ads that win awards are NOT real clients and half of the time don’t even answer basic creative problems, such as “Who is your target market?”
With out the communication objectives
that we are given in typical assignments
it is easier to come up with creative ideas.
In other words a cop out.
When I walk through the shows of awarded ads hung up I just shake my head.
Knowing how busy ECDs and up are I guess Andy has a lot of time on his hands.
April 2, 2008 at 2:07 pm
In defense of Andy Greenaway, domino, he does NOT have a lot of time on his hands; he’s too busy creating false advertising.
April 2, 2008 at 3:50 pm
So true!
April 2, 2008 at 4:42 pm
At a time when some of the major networks are trying to turn agencies into accountancy firms or banks, I think Roger is a breath of fresh air (albeit he is my nom du plume). And he wasn’t invented to win awards, he was invented to show our people, and others in our industry, that advertising should be the best fun you can still have with your clothes on. Sorry if some people have been offended by the creativity of the idea.
April 3, 2008 at 12:10 am
Clever and very very funny. I have a hard time believing Campaign Brief isn’t in on this. I don’t know where they’re going with it and what the point of it is yet but I hope there’s more.
April 3, 2008 at 12:25 am
Understood, and not offended.
Thanks for shedding light on your intentions,
but at some point in an awards show…
there are RULES to follow,
for ALL who enter this competition.
And one of them is that these are actual clients
with briefs
and target markets
and particular brand messages to communicate
to a certain audience.
These are the parameters most creatives need to work WITHIN and are admired when they solve this so imaginatively.
But let others, who are, who they say they are,
and work as hard as you to do, the same opportunity to enter, compete and win, especially if they follow the rules of competition.
That way, an award show has more authenticity.
It’s funny how you compare us to the financial industry too, look what they are going through now
by not following any rules or regulations.
April 8, 2008 at 1:56 pm
[...] — well-worn ground there for us all, but separately I do find it quite funny that Roger Makak is one of the [...]
April 27, 2008 at 5:02 pm
On the other hand, could the whole Roger Makak fabrication be just a way to get more points that count towards arriving at the top creative agency in the campaign brief rankings? Just wondering.
May 8, 2008 at 3:40 pm
As a group of concerned small businesses, we would like to voice our collective concern at the way Saatchi Singapore is being treated by the advertising industry and the media.
We firmly believe that Saatchi has been unfairly labelled as the biggest offender in Singapore for producing the so called “scam” ad.
We would like to make it plain that many businesses are highly supportive and appreciative of what Saatchi Singapore has done for them.
For a leading agency to produce countless ads for small business like Blush Lingerie, GBC Shredders and Silverfish Books, to name but three, is absolutely marvelous!
And for them to do so without charging a single cent for all their hard work is generosity indeed!!
What is more the agency is even kind enough to then pay for all these ads to run at least once.
We are also saddened by the whole Roger Makak witchhunt, this is both unfair and unfounded.
For advertising professionals in other agencies to claim that Andy Greenaway is NOT Roger Makak is outrageous.
Mr Greenaway has made it abundantly clear that he is responsible for every single ad that has ever won an award for Saatchi. This includes, I am told, that famous one for British Airways where people run around and then form a smiley face.
Anyone who is still not convinced should ask one of Mr Greenaway’s minions as they can confirm all of the above is true.
If they happen to be unwilling to talk, then Mr Greenaway will gladly make up their minds for them.
We trust this statement will put an end to any more speculation regarding the integrity of both Saatchi Singapore and Mr Greenaway.
Yours sincerely
Concerned Supporters of Saatchi Singapore
May 10, 2008 at 2:44 pm
The alias is cool. But scam is another issue. I don’t know how the world will judge Saatchi Singapore, Singapore ad industry and Andy aka Makak.
May 11, 2008 at 8:17 am
Will the people behind the Concerned Supporters of Saatchi Singapore step forward, please?