Geometry Global Dubai’s dream run at the Cannes Lions 2015 ended on an awkward note with their name being removed as a winner of the Grand Prix in Product Design.
Geometry Global Dubai and Memac OgilvyMENA had been awarded the region’s first Grand Prix for ‘The Lucky Iron Fish Project’,a programme which successfully tackled the acute anemia amongst people in Cambodia by encouraging them to cook with a small iron fish. The outcome was a 50% drop in iron deficiency.
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Controversy arose when questions were raised regarding the validity of this win as the product design and prototype had not been developed by these agencies but by the officials at Lucky Iron Fish Company -Gavin Armstrong President and CEO and Dr. Christopher Charles. As Geometry’s role had been only to help introduce the product to a wider audience and not design it, they were considered ineligible for this win and the award was given to the client – Lucky Iron Fish Company.
In a statement Geometry Global said, the misunderstanding arose as they thought that there could be only a single entrant companyacross all categories. They therefore, entered the Product Design category on behalf of their client and were named ‘entrant company’. “Our approach was in full agreement with Lucky Iron Fish Company and all partners were credited in the entry. We now understand that Product Design could have been entered directly by Lucky Iron Fish without Geometry Global and Memac Ogilvy as an ‘entrant company.’ Therefore, we have agreed with the Cannes Lions that Lucky Iron Fish should be the sole recipient of the Grand Prix in Product Design…”