THE SALMON THAT WOULD BE A GOLD LION Can John West's Popular Bear Fight Commercial Win? June 21, 2001 By Jim Hanas CANNES (Creativity) -- Take a commercial with a solid gag, spread it like wildfire through word-of-mouth, take it to Cannes, and what have you got? A spot that sounds suspiciously like a certain contagious Budweiser campaign that scooped up the Grand Prix here last year. You also have Leo Burnett/London's now-famous spot for John West Salmon. The deftly filmed struggle of man against bear has spread like a chain letter via e-mail since it aired late last year, not only within the ad industry but among people who've never even heard of Cannes, never mind Leo Burnett. It was the most downloaded spot on AdCritic.com for weeks, and many Americans now know the John West name even though they'd have to jump the next plane to Heathrow just to taste his salmon. AdReview.com arbiter Bob Garfield, for one, predicts it will snag the Grand Prix. Leo Burnett press luncheon At Thursday's Leo Burnett press luncheon, however, the folks seated at the table set aside for the agency's U.K. contingent seemed determined to keep their hopes down. "We're very hopeful that we'll win something certainly," said Burnett/London CEO Stephen Whyte. "There's a lot of talk, but we're trying not to listen to it. You know, assume the worst and After disabling a bear with a kick to the genitals, the commercial's human hero makes off with a succulent salmon. Watch the video and read Bob Garfield's John West column on AdReview.com. be surprised later if something good happens." That a commercial will enter the collective pop consciousness is difficult to foresee. Co-executive creative director Nick Bell says he didn't know he was onto something until he saw the final cut. "The absolute truth of it is, when we saw the script, we thought, yeah, this is completely different, particularly for canned fish," he says. "But because of the nature of the script -- a fight with a bear -- we thought this could be really atrocious or it could be brilliant." Wildly popular Brilliant or not, the result has been wildly popular. The spot has been e-mailed around so furiously that even the agency receives it. The copywriter, Paul Silburn, once received a copy from a friend, who noted: "You should do ads like this." The spot has also been cleaning up at the British award shows. It received a Silver at D&AD and the Grand Prix at both the Creative Circle and the British Television Awards. 'Proper ads for tough stuff' "What I love is that the stuff we're winning on is proper advertising for tough stuff like hamburgers and tinned fish," Mr. Bell says. "Real hard stuff. And it's stuff that runs and people see it, not an ad that you'd see at the awards and you've never seen it anywhere before. It's proper advertising, and I'm proud of that." Mr. Bell and his partner, co-executive creative director Mark Tutssel -- who is on this year's film jury -- already have one Cannes Grand Prix under their belts, a 1997 print win for Mercedes work. But can John West go the distance? "There's plenty of good work out there," Mr. Bell says. "Everyone's talking about 'The Bear,' but it might not happen." Or as Mr. Whyte quipped over his buffet lunch: "I guess we find out Friday afternoon. When the jury starts leaking like a sieve." Jim Hanas is associate editor of Creativity magazine. © 2001, Crain Communications Inc. Editor@AdAge.com ..