Day three came early. I blinked off the rosé to head to the Palais for the Being Human in an AI World session. It was a cheery movie that showed how AI will “free us from the burden of repetitive tasks”. When it wasn’t busy harvesting fruit and lettuce, it was telling farmers where and when to fertilize, identifying skin cancers, detecting pancreatic cancer earlier than humans and keeping seniors company. All good. Then deepfake came up along our increasing inability to determine what is real. By the time we got to how the Chinese government uses facial recognition for surveillance and tracking of its citizens, and they showed an AI creative director I broke out into a cold sweat. I guess you can see why it’s such a hot topic.
Save the Walruses
This improbably titled session was led by Unilever’s Alan Jope. He accused brands of “purpose washing”. Stats show 64% of us chose brands based on social stands but that connection to a cause must be legit, sustainable and long term. Issues that matter deeply to us include ocean plastics, species extinction and forest depletion. But when brands “borrow” a cause to make us cry then buy, we are very quick to call bullshit. Stats show that 84% now say advertising is the least trusted profession, and 6 in 10 don’t count on us to keep our promises. Edelman’s Trust Barometer lays it bare. Jope implores us to unleash purpose on the world, and use the power of creativity to propel societal good.
Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg Says Sorry.
Okay, we love Sheryl but we’re still not over it.
“Advertising does not reflect the real world.” Whaaaat?
Marc Pritchard, Katie Couric and John Legend shared the deflating fact that 70% of women do not see themselves reflected in advertising. Thank goodness John then sang his most recent hit for us to calm us down. (link to song? Image.)
The Globe and Mail’s Canada Party
Oh Canada! We have bagged many Lions this year. Between that and the NBA title, this Canadian couldn’t be happier
Quote of the Day:
“Fear is kind of octane.” Steven Spielberg
Fave Ads of the Day