DDB CHAIRMAN LAUDS DIESEL WIN Says His Company's Ad Ideas Were 'Much More Complex' June 20, 2001 By Anthony Vagnoni CANNES (AdAge.com) -- For Keith Reinhard, the Diesel Grand Prix winner in the Cannes Press & Poster Photo: Anthony Vagnoni.. DDB Chairman Keith Reinhard in Cannes earlier today. competition, Tuesday night's victory somewhat bittersweet. The win marks the second time that Paradiset DDB has picked up a Grand Prix in Cannes for this client -- it won the film Grand Prix for Diesel work in 1997. But Paradiset DDB lost the Diesel business earlier this year. In addition, the clear runner-up for the Grand Prix was Volkswagen of America, a brand that Mr. Reinhard's agency has a long and ultimately frustrating history with. 'Greater degree of difficulty' While the DDB chairman and legendary copywriter applauded the work done for VW by Arnold Worldwide, Boston, he told AdAge.com that he believes the Diesel campaign created by Paradiset DDB in Stockholm faced a greater degree of difficulty. Mr. Reinhard said the ads ask 'What if Africa was an affluent continent?' "Taking nothing away from Arnold, they have a highly differentiated product," he said today in Cannes. (Arnold won the Grand Prix in 1998 for its print campaign introducing the new Beetle.) "Diesel doesn't face the same level of differentiation. In this category, jeans are jeans are jeans." 'Sex and provocative imagery' What he found most gratifying about the work was how, "in the fashion and apparel category, where it's always about sex and provocative imagery, Paradiset has been able to stitch an attitude onto these garments that people want to pay for, and that's worthy." Mr. Reinhard said the basic concept of the Diesel print work turns around basic assumptions in an intelligent and offbeat way "To suggest, 'What if Africa was the affluent continent?' could be a great way to showcase our fashions." Related Stories: DIESEL ADS WIN PRESS & POSTER GRAND PRIX Offbeat African Images Edge Out Volkswagen Campaign ARNOLD BEETLE ADS JUST BARELY LOST BIG ONE Contrarian Approach Was Widely Admired JUROR: U.S. PRESS & POSTER ENTRIES 'WEAK' Are American Agencies 'Losing Interest'? The ads play off the idea that African culture is one of luxury, set against newspaper headlines that reveal otherwise. The VW print campaign, built around compelling photographs in which a VW Beetle plays a minor role yet is always noticeable, struck Mr. Reinhard as an example of how Arnold has "recaptured and expanded" the voice of Volkswagen advertising first created decades ago by Doyle Dane Bernbach. "Excuse me for sounding partisan," he says, "but I think the Diesel idea is much more complex." Anthony Vagnon is the creative editor of Advertising Age and AdReview.com. © 2001, Crain Communications Inc. Editor@AdAge.com ..