Triad Advertising said this week it has instituted legal action against the management of the Chillies Awards following a decision by the Chillies Blueprint committee to introduce a scam penalty, in another twist to a never-ending saga of many years of controversy of this premier advertising industry awards.
In a statement to the Business Times, Triad Joint Managing Director Dilith Jayaweera stated that unforeseen influence seems to be continuing to control the management of the Chillies. Triad was informed in writing that the changes prescribed by the Blueprint committee, especially the ‘Draconian’ so called scam penalty which was an arbitrary punitive action will continue to prevail in the 2010 awards show.

Due to the very haphazardness and illegality of this imposition and the long term impact it can have on the industry at large and on the awards itself, Mr. Jayaweera said Triad was left with no option but to institute legal action to rectify this anomaly and streamline the management of the Chillies Awards, so that parties with vested interest and those with a conflict of interest will be kept away from any future abuse.

Mr. Jayaweera added that in 2010 at the last minute, agencies were informed through an emailed Blueprint document that a new set of changes, having a retrospective bearing and drastic implications was to be effected. Triad requested that a discussion needed to follow whereby a meeting in which participation was poor took place.

Here too, Mr. Jayaweera said the agency vociferously objected to such arbitrary decisions being imposed on member agencies, requesting even whether the Blueprint committee had sought legal advice before making such grave decisions which are prima facie, seen as susceptible to manipulation while going against the basic principles of natural justice and the rule of law of the land.

Going by historical developments with regard to the Blueprint to suit the whims and fancies of manipulative elements, Mr. Jayaweera said Triad was strongly of the opinion that the new changes, which could not be supported with any global precedents nor in keeping with good governance should not be imposed on the participating agencies in 2010.

However, if the committee so wished, adequate time and a discussion among member agencies should have prevailed to avoid any negative repercussions. The least Triad requested from the Blueprint committee was to not carry out the changes this year but reconsider for the next year.

He added that since the launch of the Chillies Awards in 2006 as joint industry initiative, Triad has been adjudged the number one advertising agency until 2009 when the Blueprint committee surprised the industry with a last minute change from the ‘Olympic Tally System’ to a ‘Point Based Tally System’ where quantity superseded the quality of the industries. Mr. Jayaweera described this as a blatant disregard for the objective originally set out by the Blueprint committee.

The irony of the whole episode, Mr. Jayaweera said, was that these arbitrary Blueprint changes were being suggested in and around March 2009 when the work that was eligible to be entered for the show had to be released on or before 31 December 2008.

Drastic changes to the Blueprint were being effected retrospectively. Triad vehemently objected to the move but participated in 2009 Awards in the spirit of camaraderie. However, Mr. Jayaweera said the agency expressed its displeasure at the manner in which the Blueprint alterations were taking place during the post-awards winners press conference and the debriefing. Officials from the Chillies Organising Committee were unavailable for comment.

Two weeks back, the Chillies Committee announced that agencies that are not a member of the International Advertising Agency (IAA) or the Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies (4A’s), are ineligible to enter the 2010 Chillies awards, drawing a strong protest from Phoenix Ogilvy because it belongs to this category.