Kick at the Cannes, Canada.

Don’t watch. Don’t drink. Don’t spend. Don’t eat cheese. Don’t expand your horizons. Don’t go to Cannes.

With apologies to the creators of the fine Grand Prix winning spot ‘Litany,’ voted best of the best by the jury at the 46th Cannes International Advertising Festival, there’s a point to be made here. (For those who are unfamiliar with the spot for The Independent newspaper created by Lowe Howard-Spink, London, Eng., it features a litany of don’ts – don’t spit, don’t eat meat, don’t hang out, don’t burn out, don’t fry your food – accompanied by striking black-and-white images of various states and aspects of humanity. The spot concludes with the commands, Don’t buy. Don’t read recited over images of the newspaper.)

While there is every opportunity to debauch and you can indeed pay hundreds for a club sandwich and Coke on the Croisette if you aren’t paying attention, for those in the industry looking to broaden their perspective, the trip to Cannes is worthwhile; many would say indispensable.

It’s worthwhile if only just to sit for hours and watch the spots. Not just the elite reel of Lion winners for which the show is known, or even the short list, but the raw, unedited effluent from everyone who had the guts and the grand or so to enter. It becomes evident quickly that a few of the spots are great, some of them are interesting, and a whole lot of them are not very good at all. But according to all who took it in, it is the show’s vast range in quality, genre, origin and approach that provides the real education in creative and production methods.

Back at home, at the fourth annual Saatchi & Saatchi/Playback First Cut Awards for new commercial directors, the commercial industry is celebrating its budding domestic commercial directors, at least one of whom, the winner – Imported Artists’ Wayne Craig – will make the trip to Cannes next year, and, possibly, have his work shown there. Like last year’s First Cut winner, Radke Films’ Eddy Chu, Craig will likely have a blast and come back energized.

An uncanny number of the Canadians at Cannes came away with not only enlarged livers and a sun-kissed glow but with a compelling idea: We can do this.

Next year, someone from Saatchi should accompany Craig and Christina Ford and the rest of the Canadian contingent (there are a number of volunteers available). More people from other agencies should go, too. And not just the creative cheeses, blossoming creatives should go. The illusion: it’s expensive. The reality: okay, it’s no bargain, but it’s doable – you don’t have to stay at the Carlton. Have fewer Canoe lunches, scale down the company picnic, whatever.

Sure it’s the last thing anyone wants to hear anymore, you need to take risks. But risk can mean any number of things, including hiring a new Canadian director, making a hair commercial with no bouncy hair or going on a trip to Cannes.

Some final thoughts: somewhere, clients approved a singing penis, and a spot which only uses the word ‘bugger’ – and they won awards. Denmark (population 5.2 million) sent nearly 200 people to Cannes and Canada sent about 60.