In the last few days, Coca-Cola Middle East and FP7/DXB have been getting a lot of buzz about their ‘No Label’ cans. Creativity, AdWeek, Mashable, CNN, and Campaign, are just a few of the big players sharing this story, some have even gone far enough to say that this idea deserves to win big at Cannes.
Read on to see why this ‘stunt’ shouldn’t win at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
Even though the above design feels like a contradiction (If labels are for cans, shouldn’t they be making them bigger instead of removing them?), a ‘No Label’ can of Coke is a mighty statement.
Here’s why this idea, although for a super cause, shouldn’t win at any creative award show in the world:
1) Absolut Vodka created a ‘No Label’ bottle back in 2009 for exactly the same reasons. See it here. And here’s the press release.
2) The initial idea was created for Coke in 2013 and appears on the online portfolio of a freelance CD called Todd Waldron. These are some pictures from his website:
In an Absolut world, the “No Label” stunt by FP7 wouldn’t even be considered for awards.
Memac Ogilvy won big last year with Coke “Social Media Guard” and UN Women’s “Autocomplete Truth” although the originality of both campaigns was quite questionable.
So if you’re a judge, please spread the word and let’s start awarding gongs to people and agencies that really deserve it.
Basha out!!