The Neil French Ad Awards

Our favorite sexist is working on new advertising awards!

If he sticks to his guns, the categories are sure to include:

Best placement of a woman in a print ad (limited to cleaning supply clients, of course).
Best set of breasts in a beer ad.
Best set(s) of chicks' legs in a beer ad.
Best set(s) of chicks' buns in a beer ad.

Entries are restricted to male creatives, so as to save the judges' time from looking at the "crap" that females produce.

But he is apparently lining up judges already. One Asian creative director and prospective judge said in an e-mail that the intention of these awards is to gather the best judges in the world to evaluate the world's best print. But he said he had been asked not to talk about the awards before they are officially announced.


Entry fees are expected to be about $250 for a single entry and $400 for a campaign, in line with what other international festivals charge. Because it's a print show, the organizers are likely to look for sponsorship from companies including newspaper and magazine publishers. It's unclear if a decision has been made about when or where to hold an awards gala, although a call for entries is expected around September.


When in London

Mr. French has a long relationship with the 21-year-old London International Awards and its owner, Ms. Levy. He was president of that show's advertising jury in 2001 and again in 2005. Last year the show drew 16,686 entries. Winners are announced at an annual awards gala in London in November.


Ms. Levy did not immediately return phone calls for comment.


Mr. French started his career as a U.K. copywriter, with colorful stints at jobs such as manager of heavy-metal band Judas Priest, before becoming the Singapore-based creative director of Ogilvy & Mather and, in 1998, worldwide creative director. Five years later, WPP tapped Mr. French for a role as global creative adviser to its agencies. He resigned last October after a talk he gave to a Toronto ad group in which he described female creative directors' trying to balance work with family time as "crap." It erupted into a global controversy fueled by online debate.