In my opinion, and it remains just that, I feel it's not just creatives' job to come up with and sell the idea but also the client service team. Part of the joy of collecting an award is knowing it was a team effort. EVERYONE pulled their weight and collected the award as a result. I think scam ads hurt us, and hurt brands.

But like I said, it's just my opinion.

There's always two sides to this story. Part of me feels very strongly that by entering a "fake ad" we have failed at the core purpose of our industry, which is advertising. We have simply reduced our communication to pieces of art. The ads themselves no longer serve to educate and inform but instead remain executed ideas , and nothing more.

Quickly jumping on the fence is the side of me that if given the choice between discarding an idea that the client would never run or executing it, running it in some small unknown publication and then submitting it for and award, i would go for the latter. This choice would probably be justified to myself as the frustration of seeing a good idea die seems a waste and that awards are a celebration of the creative idea more than anything else, all the while still carrying that pang of guilt that maybe, just maybe, all i've accomplished is a convincing con.