Dubai Lynx strips FP7 Doha of its Agency of the Year title and withdraws 7 of their awards.

After weeks of controversy, accusations, finger-pointing, lawsuits, client-approvals, pigs, nuns and Jesus Christ, the Lynx has decided to withdraw 2 Gold, 4 Silvers and 1 Bronze, as well the Agency of the Year award from FP7 Doha. 18 submissions in total were disqualified including work for Samsung, Higeen and Nissan.

“Even before the awards night, we had withdrawn a number of pieces of work from the competition but subsequently our investigation has found other pieces that were presented to the jury that infringed our requirement that all work presented must represent the client who approved it. Our rules are very clear with regards to this, and we have no hesitation in withdrawing these awards,” said Philip Thomas, CEO of Lynx organizers Cannes Lions, in a statement.

“The Dubai Lynx awards exist to celebrate and raise the creative bar of genuine work of the region. Activities like this show a disregard not only for the awards but more importantly for the juries who work so hard judging the event,” he added.

“Due to the scale of withdrawals we feel it inappropriate to honor FP7 Doha as Agency of the Year and so will be withdrawing the prize. I hope that this swift action makes clear our determination to build an award with true integrity for the region,” said Thomas.

Lance de Massi, president of the UAE chapter of the IAA, said: “In taking such swift action the Lynx organizers have demonstrated their understanding that in order to fulfill the purpose of incentivizing and rewarding creative excellence in the region, Lynx must safeguard compliance with the stated conditions of eligibility. To do otherwise would be to undermine credibility.”

Although the Lynx was at fault at first for letting in all these scandalous ads, I believe they’ve made up for most of it with what they’ve done today. This is a lesson to the whole industry.

Good riddance I say. I still believe the outdoor category needs work though. What works in print shouldn’t just be turned into a poster and thrown into the outdoor. Whatever happened to getting your message across in a few seconds? Look at last year’s Koleston Grand Prix winner and look at this year’s? There’s no contest really.

And then there’s still the Kwik and Aramex copycats.

And justice for all…