Teen Sex Sells


This spot for JCPenney done by Saatchi & Saatchi is getting a ton of accolade as well as a ton of heat. It won a bronze Lion at Cannes last week but it was just uncovered that the ad is fake and was never approved by JCPenney. So now JCPenney's affordable, cotton panties are all in a bunch because they think the ad is tainting their brand. Uh, hate to be the one to break it to you JCPenney, but you're going bankrupt. Your brand is already trashed and worthless.

Meanwhile, Saatchi & Saatchi weren't even the ones who entered the spot into Cannes in the first place - their production company, Epoch Films did. Jesus Christ, you'd think it was some celebrity sex tape.

Anyway, this kind of crap happens ALL THE TIME in awards shows. Agencies use their big cushy budgets to make the creative, self-indulgent ads their clients never buy. The ads are, of course, never shown to the clients. Some spots are brilliant, beautiful and truly groundbreaking. Some are in bad taste. Some are hilraious. Either way, it is sort of refreshing to see an agency get called out on submitting a fake ad to the most prestigious awards show in the world.

The best quote I've seen about this spot is from a comment I read on Gawker “JCPenney ought to be thanking their lucky stars they got a tiny dollop of relevancy.” Amen.

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