Saatchi & Saatchi shine a spotlight on fearless creativity

I wanted to share this with you all. Its pretty impactful. At this years Cannes film festival, Saatchi & Saatchi (Kevin Roberts, lovemarks, etc.) Held their 18th annual young directors showcase. They dedicated the show to Paul Arden, considered by many to be the worlds top advertising guru, who died a few months ago.

Some quotes about Arden from an article about his life :

“Fear of failure, fear of embarrassment, fear of what other people might think, fear of losing our job. All the things that look like insuperable obstacles, Paul just didn’t see them; he went right through them as if they weren’t there. So they weren’t.”

“Paul didn’t want the predictable, or the expected, the ordinary, or dull, or safe – what was the point? He wanted the risky, the unusual, the daring, which brought with it fear, insecurity and adrenalin. Wasn’t that the whole point of being alive?”

The theme of the showcase was Fearlessness, and S&S raised their glasses to the likes of Bjork, RJD2, and Fatboy Slim. Shocking videos such as Justice:Stress (watch this one!), amazing efforts of art and dedication like the works of BLU and outrageous campaigns like Verisigns Cart Whisperer.

Paul Arden was a man who did not feel that rules applied to him so he wrote a new set, and believed those rules were like a wiki, to be edited and changed and rewritten. Pushing the limits is tantamount to broadening horizons and its always inspirational to see those who really think outside the box. Fierce creativity is a challenge, but creativity by definition is giving rise to that which is different, unique, or uncommon.

The full article about the Saatchi & Saatchi showcase with tons more links is here.