Scam Ads and Ghost Ads: Their Long History and Sordid Future

Scam ads are a chronic problem in adland, a sort of dark underbelly of the industry where agencies and individuals trying to win awards submit work that's never been approved by a client or run more than a couple times. Every few years an ad is so offensive that it gets noticed beyond its home country and makes global headlines. This happened most recently with the Ford Figo fiasco, which led Ad Age to delve into the matter again to see how it impacts the reputation of agencies today and map the ways that clients are put at risk. But the practice goes back much further than that. Here's a roundup of our coverage, both recent and from the archives -- a steadily-growing timeline of incidents and controversies over scam ads, also known as "ghost ads." Amid Whispers, Leo Burnett Pulls Its Own Winning Ads From Awards Show April 10, 2013 Is the Ad-Awards Race Crushing the Client? April 2, 2013 Scam Ads Don't Boost Creativity; They Damage Brands, Hurt Agency Credibility April 1, 2013 Lighten Up! Ford, Others Are Overreacting to Figo Fiasco April 1, 2013 Four Steps To Protect Your Brand From Scam Ads April 01, 2013 Chief Creatives Sound Off on Scam Ads -- and What the Industry Should do About Them March 28, 2013 Amid Ford Figo Flap, U.K. Awards Show Applauds Scam Ads March 27, 2013 JWT Entered Sexually Offensive Ford Ads in India's Top Awards Show March 27, 2013 JWT India Sacks Staffers Responsible for Sexually Offensive Ford Ads March 26, 2013 Fake Kia Ad Gets 5 Brazilian Creatives Banned From 2012 Cannes Festival July 21, 2011 Controversial Creative Neil French Defends Scam Ads Sept. 21, 2009 Cannes: No Ban for Agencies Behind Scam Ads Oct. 14, 2009 Brit Award Show to 'Name and Shame,' but Not Ban, Ad Scammers -- Is That Going Far Enough? Sept. 17, 2009 Bad for DDB, Bad for Ad Shows, Just Plain Bad Sept. 7, 2009 In Wake of DDB Brasil Scandal, One Show to Ban Scam-Ad Creators for Five Years Sept. 4, 2009 DDB Brasil Did Make Video Version of Reviled WWF Ad -- and Submitted It to Cannes Sept. 3, 2009 Mark Wnek: A Focus on Awards, Not the Consumer, Caused 9/11-WWF Firestorm Sept. 3, 2009 9/11 Ad for WWF Causes Tsunami of a Crisis for DDB Brasil Sept. 2, 2009 Middle East Ad Festival Strips Shop of Agency-of-Year Title April 1, 2009 Epoch Loses Lion Over Racy Penney Ad Controversy June 26, 2008 Website TheSpecSpot Called a More Legit Alternative to Submitting Ghost Ads to Cannes June 14, 2004 Cannes Winner Questioned as Possible Scam; Johnson & Johnson Denies It Retained Agency June 26, 2002 Real-life Ghostbuster June 25, 2001 Ghosts of Cannes June 11, 2001

Scam Ads and Ghost Ads: Their Long History and Sordid Future

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