The Drink Cart: Sinking The Flying Wasp
The only newsletter that crashes through your inbox like Rodney Dangerfield’s yacht, "Seafood", too big, too loud and absolutely not welcome.
Dear marketing fans, Cannes award case study police and anyone who has a secret membership at Bushwoods Country Club.
If you get the reference to the title of this newsletter, we are best friends forever. If you don’t? You’ve got some VHS homework to do. “It's easy to grin / When your ship comes in / And you've got the stock market beat. / But the man worthwhile, / Is the man who can smile, / When his shorts are too tight in the seat.”
Now, I’m not against award shows for the advertising industry. It’s just that I take them about as seriously as the Oscars. That means plenty of speeches, not a lot of stakes. Nothing wrong with an industry voting it’s self a bunch of awards. But news out of Cannes this week found that one agency that won a an award submitted a case study now under investigation.
Then you have to read a bunch of posts of agency people high on their soap boxes (and own supply) outraged over Cannes Award case study scandal. This kind of thing gives off the equivalent of Judge Smails energy from Caddyshack, You know, buttoned-up indignation from a club no one outside the club actually cares about. (see, there was a reason for all this golf talk).
If you tell a normie (non-advertising person) about Cannes they will think movies. If you tell them about advertising, they will roll their eyes. In an industry where people go out of their way to avoid your ads, they aren’t likely to care much about when the ads win awards or fudge the case study along the way.
Legendary boat scene. And oddly, the perfect metaphor for adland right now. True story the only awards i really care about is the two salt shakers we stole from a defunct award show back in the day when we didn’t win something. That’s because it was part of a great night.
So sure, win your trophies. Toast your case study films. Complain about the thing agencies have been doing in faux case studies for decades. Just don’t act surprised when the anchor crashes through the yacht and the rest of us are left picking splinters out of our credibility from 30 leagues below the sea.
Getting upset about ad awards is like sobbing into your lanyard because your TikTok didn’t get a standing ovation from the jury room.
Drink Cart Approved™ agency discussion topics
There are two types of designers. Which are you?
One Cannes award that does float my boat are the ones for Alt Text.
The next political branding sensation just won the New York Democratic Primary. Expect to see this reference a lot this year.
Ad History: Boss Coffee (2014)
That time Tommy Lee Jones played a teacher with laser eyes for Japan’s Boss Coffee. Incredible. 10/10 advertising.
Are you clamouring for denim sportswear?
Well, you are in luck. Levis and Nike have collaborated to make some sort of sport jeans collection. Here’s the question. Are we just now in one endless and unnecessary collaboration in search of social clout forever now?
The fun side of gambling
This is definetly the perfect use of betting culture. Betting on government incompetence is definetly the best thing ever. There’s absolute no way this LRT opens on time (not a chance).
Bonus points for being an officially licenced gambling operator by the Ontario government offering these lines. That’s hilarious, and maybe even opens the government up to manipulate those odds too. Related: Kalshi, a prediction market, is doing New York Mayor odds on giant billboards. Odds are everywhere.
Last call: The Drink Cart French 75
One special crowd pleaser of a cocktail, maybe after you win a piece of business or close an sow in the summer could be the French 75. It’s fancy enough to make you feel like you’re the founder of the agency, but easy enough to make for 30 in just a few minutes.
The French 75 is the kind of cocktail that sounds like a 1920’s jazz record and hits like artillery fire. That makes sense, since it’s named after a WWI field gun. Born in Paris in the 1910s and popularized at Harry’s New York Bar, it’s what happens when a champagne flute and a gin martini go off-brief and make a bunch of bad decisions together.
Hemingway drank them. Bogart drank them. And today, it’s still the only drink classy enough for brunch but lethal enough to start a minor coup, which is what it feels like in every cafe in Paris. just a few sips away from revolution at all times. Or at least a good old fashioned strike.
Here’s my take on the recipe:
1 1/2 ounce gin (or if you wanna get wild, do it with cognac)
1/2 ounce lemon juice, freshly squeezed (as if there is any other)
1/2 ounce simple syrup
3 ounces Champagne
Garnish it with a lemon twist
Feel fancy
Wash that down and watch a little Wes Anderson drinking scene.
The Drink Cart is your weekly fuel for pop culture brains and ad junkies. A cocktail of ad insights and hot takes that feel like you’re hanging at your favourite dive bar after launching your latest campaign.
Nice weekly wrap up Jackson!