GERALD LEVIN AND MICKEY MOUSE DO CANNES 'Media Man of Year' Nominee Meets the Ad Hacks June 21, 2001 By Stefano Hatfield CANNES (AdAgeGlobal.com) -- It's not every day that AOL Time Warner CEO Gerald Levin faces a roomful of advertising hacks quite as he did Mickey Mouse and AOL CEO Gerald Levin met with Cannes Festival reporters. Wednesday afternoon at the conference center of the Cannes Festival. It's not that he isn't used to internationalism, but more that it's hard to take a journalist's profound question seriously when that writer is wearing a Fire Department of New York t-shirt, khaki linen shorts and Adidas flip-flops. And, that's just the guy from Ad Age Global. 'Media Man of the Year' Nominated as this year's "Media Man of the Year," Levin, with his customary hang-dog expression and monotone delivery, appeared even less pleased to be in Cannes than the poor guy who has to dress up in the furry Mickey Mouse costume to pose with tourists outside the conference center. Judging by the relatively desultory turnout of journalists -- perhaps 40, as opposed to the 100 or so that pack in for the awards results -- less conscientious hacks than the Ad Age Group's team had got the hint. Levin should be happy. AOL Time Warner revenues are supposed to have been up 37% in the first quarter while other American media giants are slitting their corporate wrists. Anyway, never mind that -- it was 80 degrees on the fourth blue-sky day in a row outside, and Joe Pytka and Dennis Hopper (yes, the Dennis Hopper) were in a competing auditorium. We wanted to be impressed. 'Your hugeness' Actually, some of the Brazilian journalists were. Perhaps journalism school in Sao Paolo is different from that in London. For instance, I can't recall the following on my course syllabus: "Thank you Mr. Levin, your hugeness, for gracing us with your presence. You are the epitome of a modern media man, and it is only right and fitting that the festival in its infinite wisdom has seen fit to bestow this long overdue honor on your super-brainy head. May I humbly ask what your plans for Brazil are?" If you can be gracious through gritted teeth, then Levin was. Of course, he declined to reveal any of the company's plans for Brazil, He too must know how popular George W. Bush felt in Europe last week. AOL as cultural imperialist? Levin deadpanned his way through his 150th rejection of the notion that AOL Time Warner is a cultural imperialist in 150 international press conferences. And he did not really seem to share Previous Stefano Hatfield Columns from Cannes 2001: DEAL-MAKING, DECENT COFFEE, TOPLESS BATHING Why the Cannes Ad Festival Matters HUMBLE PIE & HAIR SHIRTS ONLINE Cannes' Interactive Advertising Forum a Year Later ADMAN AND MAYOR OF CANNES An Interview With DDB's Bernard Brochand the international media press' fascination with the future effects of TiVo. He did however seem quite relieved when your correspondent revealed he was from New York -- that is until asked a fascinating question along the lines of: "If you guys are so big and global now, and WPP and IPG and Omnicom are so big and global now, with MindShare etc., then why haven't there been any global media deals worth shouting about?" He looked at me, and I could see his pet bloodhound. I think he sighed. I am sure he meant to. Referring to the big media agencies, he lamented their past addiction to CPM and went on to call for a much broader definition of what a media buying agency is. "They need to transform themselves, not just by consolidating, but by being more creative. You don't get there just by being big, or structural change," Levin said. He said a lot of other things in response to my question, actually, but I was lost by then, back in a London journalism school: "Levin says size doesn't matter!" or far, far worse. Why the ad crash is good And then he said something which made me feel like my Brazilian colleague. I too was suddenly in awe of a serious brain. Levin made this year's advertising crash seem like one of the best things that had happened, ever. He told us there was excess inventory because of the dot-com boom last year -- oh, and then he mentioned Y2K, an old friend I thought had passed away. All this is being squeezed out, he said, and it's very positive. And there, gentle reader, you have it in a nutshell. He can see all that, and hacks like me can't. That's why he is CEO of AOL Time Warner, Cannes Media Man of the Year, and feted in Brazil. And us? We are all just one step away from that furry Mickey Mouse costume on an 80-degree day. Stefano Hatfield is managing director and editorial director of Ad Age Global © 2001, Crain Communications Inc. Editor@AdAge.com ..