Celebrating the best advertising from around the region, the 18th ADFEST launched yesterday, March 19 in Pattaya, Thailand. People gathered from 57 cities to attend the festival, which includes presentations by leading creatives and the announcement of the Lotus Awards, which are given in 18 different categories. Rei Inamoto, the Worldwide Chief Creative Officer of AKQA, is the Jury President for this year’s Grand Prize.
On the first day of the festival, however, there was little discussion of the awards. The drama centered on whose badges allowed them access to the opening party, drinks and dinner on a lawn festooned with coconut trees. Guests were encouraged to “Be Bad”, in accordance with Adfest’s tagline, by throwing paint bombs at designated target. Mostly though, people were “Being Busy” trying to establish the potential usefulness of new connections. The question “where are you from?” here requires three answers: the place you were born, the city where you’re base, and most importantly, the company you work for.
ADFEST was founded in 1998 by Thailand’s Vinit Suraphongchai and Hong Kong’s Jimmy Lam. Finding it difficult to enter the conversation at Cannes, they decided to start their own advertising awards, which would better reflect the culture and aesthetics of Asia.
Around 11pm on opening night, when the food and drinks were cleared away, a small portion of attendees piled into Songthaew, the taxi truck’s common in Thailand. A short drive delivered them to Pattaya’s “Walking Street”, a pedestrian street entered under a high arch with a portrait of His Majesty Rama IX and an LED sign stating, “LONG LIVE THE KING”.
The street, a confusion of miniskirts and gender ambiguity, is lined with bars that all take the suffix “a-go-go”. It’s a tradition for delegates to visit the place, even if they simply sit there for a beer. The change of context provides a chance to network more informally but sometimes more effectively.
Some delegates made it back to their hotels just a couple of hours later, hoping to get enough sleep to catch today’s early sessions.
SHP＋记者 Sam Gaskin在亚太广告节前方发来的最新报道，为你每日更进广告节动态！（以及他的泰国游记）。
亚太广告节可能是亚太地区最好的广告节之一。今年第十八届的广告节在上周五泰国的芭堤雅正式开幕。在这个旅游胜地的城市，每年这个时候都聚集了来自世界各地的大批的广告行业精英，今年也不例外，有来自世界 57个城市的广告人士参与。广告节包括了顶尖创意们的演讲以及莲花奖项的各行结果公布，今年的莲光奖共设有18个奖项之多 。Rei Inamoto，AKQA的全球首席创意官是今年的大奖的评委会主席。
在广告节第一天的热点当然是猜一下各奖项的赢家是谁。但更热门的话题当然是谁的徽章可以参加露天餐会，通常在椰子树林立的草坪上摆着美酒佳肴挂满。今年的主题是“Be Bad”（“使坏”），客人鼓励要去“耍坏”，怎么使呢？就是现场设了一些靶子，你可以朝这些固定的靶子扔油漆弹。虽然很多人变“坏”了，更多的人是变得更“忙”了——忙着交际，与“新朋友”套近乎 。 问得最多的问题是“你是哪里人？”，这种问题通常还需要三个答案：你出生的地方，现在住在哪个城市，最重要的还有，你在哪家公司工作。
亚太广告节成立于1998年，由泰国的摄影指导Vinit Suraphongchai和香港的林俊明。他们在参加过过戛纳广告节后，发现他们很难完全融入到欧洲人举办的广告节里，于是他们萌发了要在亚洲创办一个更能体现亚洲文化与审美的广告奖。于是亚洲广告节就由此诞生了。
约晚上11点左右，代表们吃饱喝足后，派对上一部分宾客就被拥上了当地一种叫Songthaew的出租巴士 。不到一会，车子就停在了芭堤雅的“步行街”，高高的拱门上面是陛下拉玛九世的肖像和大大的LED灯闪耀着“国王万岁”的标语。
大街上到处都是迷你裙和各种性别模糊的美艳姑娘， 街边临立着各式酒吧，但名字后缀都是“xx-go-go”。据闻，来参观步行街是代表团每年的传统，即使他们只是坐在街头喝个小酒，也必须来“报道”一下。当然这种放松的环境更可以让代表们间更快地熟悉，并“有效”地交换信息。
面对五光十色的芭堤雅夜晚，不少代表还是泡了好几个小时后才会回酒店，并默默地希望可以赶上第二天的早会。
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