If you thought ad awards were all about the money—well, it seems you were right.
In a cheeky stunt, Canadian agency Rethink is crowdfunding a campaign whose credit list is for sale. For just $1, you can add your name to the campaign's credits as a member of the "Creative Team." For $10, you get a writer or art director credit. For $25, creative director. For $50, executive creative director. For $100, chief creative officer. And if you pony up $1,000, you'll be listed in the credits as "The Chosen One."
Rethink will then enter the campaign, called "One Dollar One Show," in this year's One Show. If it wins anything (and that's a big if—considering the work is tail-eatingly solipsistic, pretty cynical, and openly contemptuous of standard awards show etiquette), everyone who paid up will legitimately be able to call themselves One Show Pencil winners.
The campaign launched on Indiegogo with a goal of raising $500 (the cost of a single One Show entry). It blew past that goal in just a couple of days and now has its sights set on bigger targets. If the campaign raises more money, it will be entered in more categories at The One Show. If it raises $10,000, it will be entered at D&AD as well. And if it raises $15,000, it will be entered in the Cannes Lions festival.
Check out the FAQ below, which is pretty amusing.
Told about the campaign, The One Show vowed to join in and raise even more funds—with a twist that's just as circular as One Dollar One Show itself.
"This is a fantastic campaign," Kevin Swanepoel, CEO of The One Club, the nonprofit that produces The One Show, tells AdFreak. "As such, we are prepared to match however much is raised for the One Dollar One Show campaign, and invest the proceeds into a program that will benefit the entire industry, one that is near and dear to us all: The One Show."