This satire on awards entries may make you grimace in recognition

As we approach the time of year for awards entries, those compiling them may grimace in recognition when they watch a new satirical film from Canadian agency Zulu Alpha Kilo, which tackles the question what’s more important: winning over awards judges or winning over consumers?

The spot is set at a somewhat awkward dinner party; it opens as a brain surgeon is explaining his latest operation. Next up, the guy who works in advertising is asked what he does. He explains that he's just finished working on a fascinating case study about the first ever "left-handed mango chutney."

Faced with blank stares, he is forced to explain that it was a limited-run piece celebrating National Left-Handers Day, made proactively for a small independent chutney company, and it was never sold in stores. (His world weary wife, knocking back the wine, adds some unhelpful details of her own, too.)

Even when he brags about the case study and proudly lets them know “it also won Grand Prix,” (said in a faux French accent) he’s met with dead silence. However, another guest, who also works in advertising, plays a trump card when she reveals she worked on a beer ad featuring flatulence -- and everybody knows it. 

Zulu, whose founder Zak Mroueh also directed the spot, debuted the film at an awards night in Toronto this week. The agency said it wants to "remind the industry that advertising’s most important goal is to resonate with consumers first, and awards judges second."

And, while it's an amusing piece of work, that message is already resonating with some industry heavy hitters -- Ad Age reported this week that Cannes Lions will have new requirements to address the impact work has on growth and sustainability in 2023.