Happy with the way the advertising industry is going? It was never meant to be like this. But like life, the industry is is full of unintended consequences, as Rob Morrison explains…

This week, the Cannes Lions celebrate 70-years of being Adland’s pinnacle. But the story you won’t hear is this: It was never meant to be like this. It was a series of happy coincidences. An unintended consequence, if you like.

Let me explain.

The town of Cannes had been running the Film Festival since 1939 (no, I wasn’t at the first one, cheeky). It quickly became a favourite among writers, directors, editors, and actors. 15-years later, a clever team of people in Venice realised there was a group of writers, directors, editors, and actors whose work wasn’t being recognised – Adland. So, they started a festival (the Lion trophy is modelled after a Venice statue). After rotating through Monte Carlo, Cannes, and Venice each 3 years, the festival found a permanent home at The Palais in 1984.

It got me thinking about other unintended consequences.

There’s a great story of the Space Shuttle rockets being decided by the size of a horse’s arse. The boosters had to be transported to Florida on train tracks. The US standard gauge of 4’ 8.5” matched the original English tram tracks. That spacing was standardised based on the original Roman roads. And, yep, the Romans built roads so two horses could canter side-by-side pulling a Roman chariot.

Then there’s the ubiquitous QWERTY keyboard. It stems from the original typewriter designed by Christopher Sholes in 1870 (no, I wasn’t there either). Sholes’ prototypes worked ok, but the mechanical keys kept jamming. So, he spaced out the frequently used letters. Fast forward 150 years, when jams are impossible, and it’s still here. On every laptop. On every smartphone.

Which brings me to AI.

Clearly, AI was intended to simulate human intelligence. To distil large amounts of information into usable insights. In super-quick time. I have no doubt the original IT geeks really were trying to improve humanity. Imagine speeding up scientific research – curing cancer. Picture instant language translation – removing communication barriers. Dream of speeding up engineering – so space is no longer a frontier.

But, just like other inventions, good intentions don’t last.

Clearly, AI has been adopted by big corporates as a cost saver. They’re replacing full-time staff with prompts and plug-ins and agents. It’s biting particularly hard in Adland. This generation of writers, directors, editors, and actors is being sidelined by ChatGPT, Mid-Journey and a potpourri of AI video generators. Sadly, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recently announced films using AI tools will not be disqualified from the awards. AI could win an Oscar. And, then a Cannes Palm d’Or. And, no doubt, a Cannes Lion.

It doesn’t matter that’s not what anyone intended.

Rob Morrison is a rarity in advertising – a grey-haired creative. Rob’s experience includes time as a Creative Director at Ogilvy, BWM (now Dentsu Creative), George Patts (now VML), Campaign Palace and Wunderman. He now runs his own consultancy – morrison.collective.

Here are two more opinion pieces from Rob Morrison: