The ghost ads of Cannes - scam ad Taronga Zoo bronze winner has Creative Director resign

The creative director of Lowe Lintas Sydney, Mr. Marc Schattner, has resigned after a week of accepting full responsibility for his advertising agency using a fake ad to win a top international award.

The agency had won a Bronze Lion at the Cannes International Advertising Festival, but it was disqualified after it was discovered that the prizewinner was a fake ad created for Taronga Zoo. The Taronga Zoo advertisement was ineligible on all possible grounds, and it had never run. Upon investigation, it was found that this was not an isolated incident.

The campaign featured photographer Mr. Gary Heery's images of a chimpanzee and an elephant, and it was never used to promote the zoo. Taronga executives had rejected the advertisement months before the awards because it did not fit the zoo's image. Mr. Heery was not contacted by the agency about entering the awards, and last week, he was considering what action he could take over the matter. Mr. Schattner declined to comment on the issue.

Lowe is furious about this ad entering the Cannes Lions Awards.

"As a network, we have always taken a firm stand against entering 'fake' ads in any creative festival. Particularly one as prestigious as the Lions," says the London Chief creative officer Adrian Holmes.

I want to know where the network that thinks it's completely OK to enter fake ads in awards show is. Where, where!?

Meanwhile, I also want to find a visual of this bronze winner and see what the fuss is about and how 'good' the idea may have been. Can anything be worth risking your agencies reputation 'good'? Cannes lions website doesn't show the winners.