This agency called on the experts (Russian intelligence) to work their magic at Cannes

Forget creativity. Forget honesty. Forget nationality, even. When you need world-changing results from a long-shot campaign, talk to the experts with a proven track record of success. You know, in Moscow.

That's what Boulder creative agency WorkInProgress has done. The two-year-old shop wants to win big at Cannes and has its heart set on Agency Network of the Year, despite being a single shop in a single country. But if anyone can put a thumb on the scales in favor of an undeserving candidate, its Russian intelligence.

To reach these admittedly hard-to-find characters, WIP is running billboard ads in Moscow's Erevan Plaza. It's a few miles from the Kremlin, but Putin has eyes everywhere. The ad reads, in Russian:

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

WorkInProgress

Cannes Lions

PARTICIPANT IN NOMINATION

AGENCY NETWORK OF THE YEAR 2018

If you think this is a last-minute stunt, you're half right. WIP has been planning this for three months, running iterations of the copy past the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation, which is apparently very good at policing false statements. The ad, bought through the Russian Marketing and Advertising Services, runs once an hour for the first two weeks of June.

Of course, WIP might have some competition in its bid from Russia itself. Anonymous creatives entered Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election campaign into Cannes this year, complete with a full case study video. But since when have online trolls cared about conflict of interest?