Wrath of Cannes: Cannes You Pay for This?

According to NY-based indie agency Woods Witt Dealy & Sons (WWD&S), award shows are just pricey excuses to hook up and get drunk. So this year's Wrath of Cannes – the agency’s annual "other" awards show is skipping the pretension and going straight to the booze. Employing the latest trend of crowdfunding on Kickstarter, WWD&S has created its own beer called Wrath of Cannes Bitter Ale, a style of ale named for the aromatic hops that give a bitter finish and for our jealousy at not going to Cannes. Like revenge, best served cold.

The theme of this year’s event is “Wrath of Cannes You Pay for This?” WWD&S has a recipe, a label design and a brewer – they just need someone to help pay for it. The Brief for entrants: Create the social advertising campaign that will drive people to Kickstarter to donate.

“People in advertising possess two great qualities: The gift of creativity and a love of beer,” said Harry Woods, co-founder and creative director at WWD&S. “We feel we can create an amazing bitter beer that captures this spirit. But we need the ad industry’s help to create the campaign that will convince people to donate money to create this bitter beer, making the world’s dreams come true.”

The competition will take place at an official Wrath of Cannes party on Thursday, June 20 from 7-11pm at 200 Orchard in NYC. Entrants can come to the party with ideas in hand, or they can submit ideas at the actual party. The Grand Prize winner will have his/her name etched and immortalized on The Grand Coney, a statue of a man with his head up his ass. The winner will also receive a top-of-the-line homebrew kit to recreate all the bitterness of Wrath at home.

Now in its seventh year, Wrath of Cannes is billed as the “other” awards show and a bitter response to the self-congratulating, glad-handing, marblebag-wearing, Dom-swilling, bronzer-slathered soirees that fester up on the beach in Cannes.