Last year India got 18 Lions at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Agency leaders at the time united to discuss the ‘poor showing,’ stating that the jury may have been the issue, as it was selected to ‘tick diversity goals’ rather than have the best judges.

This year, India got a vastly improved 32 Lions.

The tally consisted of a Grand Prix, nine Gold, nine Silver and 13 Bronze.

It’s our second-best showing after 2022 when India’s Dentsu Webchutney bagged the ‘Agency of the Year’ at the awards festival. So, we’d be celebrating as an industry, right?

No, we’re not.

What united the industry last year was a poor showing overall.

This year, as the entries from India increased by close to 19%, agencies got to the festival with more hope. With the increase in entry count, so did the shortlists, which likely led to more optimism. And then came the wins. Nine for FCB, seven for Ogilvy, three each for Leo, Havas Creative and Talented.

The above agencies should have got plaudits from fellow Indian agencies, for making sure the Indian flag was flying high at the event.

What happened was the complete opposite.

For those, who are well versed with the film 3 Idiots, the scene in which R Madhavan and Sharman Joshi are upset about the fact that Aamir Khan topped comes to mind.

R Madhavan stated that he learnt something about human behaviour that day: ‘If a friend fails, it’s upsetting. But what’s more upsetting is the fact that a friend tops.’

And that’s exactly what seems to have happened this year.

The press release for the ‘Lucky Yatra’ was circulated in early May by FCB India. The entry went on to win at the Abbys at Goafest later that month. No one spoke about its lack of success or the fact that it was an idea that failed the Indian Railways then.

Talented’s ‘Nature Shapes Britannia’ was released in January. During judging for an awards show in May, some question marks were raised about its originality. However, it went on to win at the awards show, and life went on. As soon as the entry won at Cannes, came the ‘greenwashing calls’, leading to question marks around the entry.

And then, The Times of India’s ‘Ink of Democracy’ was questioned too.

All these entries have won across award shows in the lead-up to Cannes.

So, what caused the sudden uproar?

Not for one moment are we supporting ‘scam work’ created for awards.

A glance of the 982 entries submitted by India, a majority of them could be classified as scam.

So, if adland is against scams, let’s talk about the entire industry.

The majority of those who have spoken against these entries are also among jurors for the big awards in India. These entries won here in India (and at Spikes, Adfest and other regional award shows) before they won at Cannes.

So, perhaps, next year, as jurors the industry can speak out against these entries when they first see them, rather than after they taste success, if the motive is to rule out scams and make sure agencies work towards client briefs.

And if that doesn’t happen, once we reach Cannes, perhaps, just celebrate the ‘best creativity’ India has to offer?

The author is the founder and editor of Manifest.