The Motz by Butz: ADC judged the last rarities of good advertising
Last week, the Swiss ADC judged and awarded prizes for the submitted entries. The number of submissions hasn’t been this low in a long time. It amounts to about 3 per mille of the total advertising volume. By Theophil Butz, graphic designer, advertising agency owner, source of inspiration, and—for over a year and a half now—also a complainer for *Werbewoche* readers. Please send relevant comments to [email protected].
What is this all about? Switzerland and its advertising - once a model country for original and good advertising - has degenerated into an advertising province. The big winners of earlier times such as Emmentaler, SBB, publishing houses such as Tagi, NZZ, SonntagsZeitung and many more, Swatch, Glattcenter, Mediamarkt, Coop and Migros, Sportplausch Wider, the legendary posters for the Willisau Jazz Festival (see old ADC books) are now only represented sporadically or not at all.
My theory for this development: Unfortunately, advertising in Switzerland has sunk to a freezing level. Of the only 673 entries submitted and awarded this year, most were generated for non-profit organizations or small and medium-sized clients: WOZ, Hiltl, Max Shoes, Unicef, Autismus Forum, Tibits, Swiss Smile, Pastorini, Theater Rigiblick. Alfred Burkhard's private birthday invitation was even awarded silver. So the big advertisers such as cell phone providers, SBB, banks, Nestlé, ABB, publishers and department stores are missing. Why they are missing is quite simple. The advertising agencies, infected by their scaremongering virus, do not allow any cheeky, fresh and creative advertising. Actionitis or overcrowded, unprofiled advertising is the result. And it's also clear that this doesn't make for a cube at the ADC. So the number of entries has fallen. If advertisers don't step on the gas pedal again, the ADC as an institution is threatened with extinction.
As the founder of ADC Switzerland in 1976 in the Kronenhalle on the 1st floor, I experienced the whole story of highs and (financial) lows at first hand. The idea was to get as many different creative minds as possible such as architects, designers, photographers, filmmakers, designers, journalists, copywriters and even musicians to join the ADC. All these Champions League Players were to judge the good, the better and the best once a year and immortalize them in a book. Martin Suter famously said: "We improve advertising by judging it." The ADC still aims to improve advertising today. What struck me at last Saturday's ADC Gala, apart from the excellent organization, the cool location in the freight depot and the delicious entrecôte, was that almost all the participants were dressed in colourless clothes. Was that already a pre-burial? Despite everything, my highlight of the week was the jury day and of course the ADC Gala.
