Grey Singapore’s ‘fake’ refugee-saving app removed from Apple app store, slammed by client, wins at Cannes

Here we go…

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20160620/01360534760/press-eats-up-app-that-helps-people-search-migrant-boats-meditarranean-despite-it-not-actually-doing-anything.shtml

“The Migrant Offshore Aid Network did not develop the app with Grey for Good nor do we feel that there [are] any advantages to having the public scan old sat images for potential disasters that in reality unfold in seconds,” the spokesperson said.

“All we can say on the developers’ behalf is that the App probably sounded interesting in concept form but failed miserably in execution. We were asked to support the launch of the app in concept only. So we were included in a press release,” added the spokesperson.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/06/20/outrage_over_migrantspotting_app_claims/

More evidence that it is crap

http://www.mattburkedev.com/summary-of-evidence-against-i-sea-app/

This is the most banal (and grammar error ridden) response I’ve ever seen from an agency. Shame on you Grey. Shame on you.

http://grey.com/singapore/news/key/assisting-with-the-migrant-crisis/id/12634/

OUCH Grey…

I guess awards are worth more than someone’s integrity. Sad.

What do you say now? Still deny you just do work to win awards?

https://www.mumbrella.asia/2016/05/grey-global-creative-chief-we-refuse-to-be-slaves-to-awards-and-use-them-to-raise-our-profile/

Testing eh?
Where were they going to obtain up-to-the-minute geo-located imagery?

Here’s what I want to say to the “Creative” team that came up with this shit:

Remember when you were an advertising junior, and you worked so hard just to have your ad produced. You worked hard to do REAL work, and that sense of satisfaction when it ran made you so happy. You felt like you did something good, and it was all worth it. What happened to that feeling?? What happened to that adrenaline rush when you see something you worked so hard on, came into fruition? Did you give that up for some stupid scam just so you can win an award? What happened to your integrity??

Chase the high that comes with doing good work. Doing good REAL work. That’s what matters. That should be what drives you.

The shine from the metal fades away. But that sense of pride, that sense of self worth will never ever fade away.

Don’t do awards for the wrong reasons. It will just fuck you up and turn you into the monsters in the industry that fuels this shit.

It’s shit like this that encourage young creatives to just chase awards for the sake of their egos. It’s wrong, it’s mercenery, and Grey should just fucking stop.

Isn’t there a line that you shouldn’t cross? A bit too much, really.

Profiting from refugees’ misfortune. It’s almost immoral. What kind of example are we setting for the industry to follow? Hypocrites. I feel genuinely ashamed of our industry.

The response from MOAS should be more than enough for Cannes to take away the Bronze Lion. Let’s see if that happens. Might be a long wait.

Great work team Mumbrella in bringing this up. Shows the real face of advertising agencies who build their fame collecting awards for scam ads and enjoy their fake glory of climbing a scam ladder. Really disgusting and shameful behaviour from a WPP agency which has very little ethics and no class.

Haha check out who’s on the jury that won them the bronze in Promo Activation. One of their own!

Why is Life-saving Dot in the Outdoor shortlist?

Astonishingly this doesn’t appear to be making news in the UK
or in the various Cannes commentaries. Well done Mumbrella. What’s most remarkable is that they thought they could get away with it especially on such a sensitive subject.

Oh hang on…they did! Shocking.

Shit has hit the fan…

https://www.buzzfeed.com/ishmaeldaro/i-sea-a-problem

http://redwiretimes.com/singapore-in-brief/singapore-companys-popular-refugee-saving-app-exposed-as-a-terrible-fake/

http://www.thedrum.com/news/2016/06/21/cannes-winning-grey-singapore-app-save-refugees-called-out-fake

Most importantly, THE GUARDIAN has reported it.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jun/21/refugee-rescue-i-sea-app-pulled-app-store-outed-as-fake

First in was Indian women, now it’s migrant families. Please take a cold hard look at yourself, and know how fucked up this is. It’s wrong on so many levels to make use of people in need, for a stupid lion. From someone who won Lions based on real work, I’m telling you, winning on real stuff feels soooooo much better. Try winning on a real brief, Grey. And also, no response from Ali?

It speaks volumes about how some people ( you know who you are) who have no inhibition to exploit society’s weakest and most vulnerable people to just advance their personal glory.
Stop acting holier than thou with these self serving acts.
You aren’t doing good.
You are selling your soul to false idols.
This has little to do with advertising.
But everything to do with how you treat your fellow human beings.

Just came across this Jan 2016 article featuring Grey Singapore’s CCO Ali Shabaz…..scroll down a bit and here is what he says:

“You see more and more work worthy of awards but the work done for causes and NGOs etc is undermining ability to hire the best talent in many ways.

Awards are a good thing in any industry but we need to win it for all the right reasons. For Grey our mantra is making ‘famously effective work’.”

Looks like he forgot to take his own advice.

http://www.thedrum.com/news/2016/01/25/awards-plagiarism-and-scam-work-how-can-creative-industry-get-back-first-place

“A MOAS spokesman said: ‘We were dismayed to discover that real time images were not being used. We have since discontinued our relationship with Grey for Good and spoken candidly about our disappointment to the media.'”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/06/21/iphone-app-for-rescuing-lost-migrants-at-sea-removed-from-app-st/

http://www.cnet.com/au/news/refugee-rescue-app-outed-as-fake-and-reportedly-pulled-from-the-app-store/

Wait who is the jury that got them the bronze?
https://www.mumbrella.asia/2015/04/unfoldable-magazine-ad-warns-of-symptoms-of-autism/

Even their ex-clients have spoken up.

Robin and Mumbrella team, thanks for pushing this. Keep pressing on!

https://www.moas.eu/moas-statement-regarding-i-sea-app/

http://www.straitstimes.com/tech/games-apps/refugee-saving-app-by-singapore-company-pulled-from-apple-app-store-over-accusations

Their ex-clients have spoken up? Where did you read that?

Sadly, this is no longer a Grey Singapore problem.

They will spin this thing and pin the blame on one head (Im guessing the ECD who has been quoted praising the app in the articles)…in a couple of weeks, that head will roll and before you know it, it will be business as usual.

What will remain is the sullied image of Singapore….they have brought it into disrepute with their careless, immoral, unprofessional and selfish actions.

I guess you have to be a certain kind of asshole to be able to do this! Nobody knows about Cannes Lions except for advertising people. Is it really worth it? Don’t you have morals?

Instead of the usual scam poster/print, this wank has serious business consequences for WPP.
At the heart of this is digital fraud.
As the poisoned dwarf has built his business model around the power of digital, this high profile fuck up will remind all WPP clients to be more descriminating when buying wonder solutions from them.
If they can cheat for a cheesy doorstop, imagine what they wouldn’t do for actual scratch.

If the shoe was on Publicis foot, I bet Marty will be on his soapbox about talking about French digital fraud.

“Grey Group is one of the most creatively awarded global agencies around, and we adhere to the highest ethical standards.”

http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/apple-pulled-app-itunes-same-day-it-won-lion-cannes-172142

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/sea-refugee-rescue-app-pulled-202312425.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/06/21/refugee-rescue-app-was-supposed-to-save-lives-but-apple-found-it-wasnt-really-working/

“Representatives for the Grey Group, the parent company of Grey for Good, a philanthropic arm, have insisted that the project is real and was not designed to mislead users.”

http://nytimes.com/2016/06/22/world/i-sea-app-that-claims-it-can-find-migrants-adrift-in-ocean-is-called-misleading.html

Cannes, your call.

Let’s take a full look at Mr Dougherty’s full response in the NY Times article linked above, eh?

|| In defending the app, Mr. Dougherty said: “For some reason, a developer unknown to us has pushed the story that it is fake or a hoax. Grey Group is one of the most creatively awarded global agencies around, and we adhere to the highest ethical standards.” ||

Not just A developer. DEVELOPERS all outed the app as fake. Because it was. It is.

When your app is serving just one photoshop created image of the sea to be checked by each app user, incorrect weather readings and allowing people to log their findings with submission fields that don’t actually function then I believe you have to acknowledge that your app IS a fake hoping not to be discovered by getting through a time poor and tech naive jury.

One of many developers who dug around inside the code (once @SwiftOnSecurity had queried it as real or fake) :

https://twitter.com/akatakritos/status/744705404244889601

@Isea I think ex-clients means…MOAS.

Sad moment for the industry. For Singapore’s name too.

And for the poor ECD thrown to front the campaign. But sad thing is if the CCO chooses to hide from all these, you’re pretty much on your own.

This isn’t new. It has been going on forever. Only further encouraged by the Bindi Bandwagon. The state of affairs at Grey is just sad. But what’s sadder is that they aren’t the only culprits. What’s sadder is that the judges couldn’t see the scam from a mile away. But hey, this will just blow over and continue again. and again. Because Cannes is not about celebrating the best minds in the business. It’s about $$. It’s about the $$ that pays for the inflated egos. The one and only way for this to stop is for clients to stop giving their decent money away to indecent folks and reward the agencies that truly give a damn about doing great work for you.

http://www.marketing-interactive.com/creative-catch-grey-groups-ali-shabaz/

‘I feel very disturbed when… Singapore is labelled a scam city’.

Why should Singapore be embarrassed? Is the CCO or AD or CEO even Singaporean? Is this not another repeat from the same team of glory hunters of Grey 2015?

Grey Group your reputation is being tarnished by these rip off artists, As a businessman, I’ll never put my trust in Grey knowing my business and investment will never be top priority and always be second to awards. That’s just poor business ethics and even weaker leadership.

Oh the shame.

1. Scamming with NGOs, despite both worldwide CCO Per Pedersen and Regional CCO Ali Shabaz issuing statements to the contrary in past interviews = Dishonesty.

2. Lack of technical knowledge how to make a functioning app = Gross professional incompetence.

3. Submitting an app that hasn’t cleared testing to awards and app store to masquerade as a legit app = Fraudulent behaviour.

4. Not coming clean after being outed, in the hope that this will blow over = Total disdain for professional ethics and principles.

5. Damaging the reputation and image of a NGO = Misconduct.

6. Exploiting the refugee crisis for self promotion = Complete lack of human decency.

So, who wants to still do business with these guys?

And it’s a rip-off from this “Help Search For MH370” idea, which actually works –

http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/search-mh370-tomnod/

It says so much about the value of a Cannes award today. Sad, sad, that it’s awarded by a panel of renowned jury but that’s the reality of creativity in advertising today.

7. Pushing poor creatives to do scam ideas at all cost. That culture is clearly killing their souls, their day-to-day work and the hopes of a few hundred migrants waiting to be i-sea-ed.

credits lah?

ECD shouldn’t be taking all the blame. CCO is darn good at hide-and-seek. I heard Cannes has a category for that.

That two fuckers and the whole management team in APAC should be fired and taken their salaries and fucking bonuses and be given as charity to NGOs and not that fuckload of work they’d and are producing. All the adland world is looking at you as you wished, but not to fill in your egos this time. Karma. Feel the shame, get blamed and go through it. Time and tide wait for no man.

Congrats, you guys not only won a bronze in Cannes, you became the laughing stock of the whole industry.

If any of you read the news at all, the migrant crisis is real. Real lives, real struggles. Real deaths.

Not some cheap loophole that you can exploit.

Imagine being driven out of your homes by ISIS.

I hope you guys can sleep in peace.

@Ali & Raju fan #1
Don’t fuck them, pls.
Just ask X-Grey Sr. Creative, JosephC, SJin, Theo, How, ZWei, Dunstan, YZhi, StevK, ShawnL & Jr team. They know the in side out, what Ali THINK?
New team don’t know what the shit, they’r Ali follower. No day-to-days job, no passion, no new pitch, no more….

Put the credits out and shame.

BBDO was caught, has apologised and has also returned now just the Lion in question, but all other Lions related to the work..

http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/bbdo-withdraws-all-brazilian-bayer-ads-cannes-apology-festival-and-client-172229

Grey was caught and… is still testing the app.

“The one thing that does work is the donate button, for the MOAS group, and it really does go to their website.”

Source: http://arstechnica.co.uk/business/2016/06/i-sea-migrant-app-fraud-analysis/

Everyone let’s give him one clap.

http://www.theitalianjob.xyz/#!i-sea-migrants-offshore-aid-station/u9uht

http://arstechnica.com/business/2016/06/ad-firm-it-doesnt-matter-that-migrant-app-doesnt-work-its-the-idea-that-counts/

I’d love to take Owen Dougherty and the creatives from Grey Singapore and drop them off somewhere in the Mediterranean….then let’s see if their shithouse app can find them.

“Criteria for the Cannes Lions in Promo and Activation category: 20 percent strategy; 30 percent idea; 20 percent execution; 30 percent impact and results. Many projects are presented as proof of concept to be finalised.”

Interesting that Cannes awards lions for work that only meets 50% of the criteria. This app scores zero on both execution and results.

The guy defending it is their top spin doctor….why am I not surprised.

“Owen Dougherty has been Chief Communications Officer of Grey Group since 2006. He is responsible for developing and directing Grey’s global communications, including all media relations behind its award-winning work and client counsel. He also manages the agency’s outreach to the advertising, civic and business communities. He is a member of the WPP Corporate Responsibility Committee.”

The Grey creative director’s post / website has been taken down (http://www.theitalianjob.xyz/#!i-sea-migrants-offshore-aid-station/u9uht). anyone know what the content was? curious to see if Grey or the members of the team have spoken up about this situation.

@OMG – any interesting bits on the website?

Any updates to this story….or swept under the carpet?

Let’s not get caught up in reporting Brexit….Nigel Johnson has that under control….more focus on this please.

Grey is in such a grey state now. I guess their obsession over awards to feed their growing greed has become their undoing. The final nail they put in their own coffin was when they set up Grey for Good, probably in an attempt to make award entries feel legitimate.

Time for Ali to put his trust in the right people, hire the correct people and clean up the agency’s act.

Start with investing the next award show’s money into changing the carpet.

Funny how agencies seem to believe that winning awards for scam will improve their image and attract new business.

I can imagine a client saying ….let’s get the agency that did the Under Armour work or the Volvo Van Damme video…but I very much doubt that say “let’s get that agency that did a non-working app to save refugees”.

These scammers are living in their own fantasy world.

That app may have failed for what it was intended to be; however, think of its use for rescue operations involving plane crashes and sinking boats.

@JayBlock Such an app already exists. They’ve used it for the MH crash search. It actually works and isn’t in testing mode. Go read abt it.

@testingmode Just looking for the silver lining in all this. It doesn’t excuse what Grey has done, but maybe something can be salvaged. I also am not hundred percent sure if there was real intent to deceive the public. Only Grey would know. We can only just surmise.