CANNES ’97: HHCL’s Tango ad tipped for film award

HHCL and Partners’ ’St George’ film for Blackcurrant Tango has had

a warm reception at Cannes, but jurors are warning that the competition

for this year’s TV Grand Prix is still wide open, with strong contenders

coming particularly from the US and Netherlands.

DDB Amsterdam’s humorous spot for the insurance group, Centraal Beheer,

is running high in the betting, as is FCB San Francisco’s ’doctors’

commercial for Levi’s.

The Dutch ad, ’museum’, recounts the tale of what happens to President

Clinton when a visitor to a museum plays with a voodoo doll.

’Doctors’ by FCB also uses macabre humour, with a patient undergoing

surgery encouraging medics to sing along to the 80s hit, Tainted Love,

the rhythm being provided by his heart monitor.

Another strong contender is TBWA Chiat Day’s ’toys’ commercial for

Nissan, which uses the same technology as the movie, Toy Story. ’Toys’

took the US One Show by storm recently and has support from the giant US

delegation at Cannes. But it may be hampered by the controversy over its

effectiveness in its home market, and the fact there are only two US

jurors.

A good outside bet is the Black Cat Whisky commercial from Thailand’s

Results Advertising.

Meanwhile, BMP DDB’s quirky Volkswagen spots, particularly ’hiccups’,

are attracting much attention, as are Ogilvy and Mather’s 20-second

films for the Ford Fiesta.

A Norwegian commercial for the Toyota Starlet created by Oslo’s New Deal

DDB, which focuses on a stewardess who goes through safety features on

the Starlet as if viewers were on an aircraft, is also winning plaudits.

This article was first published on Campaign