Monica Lewinsky was one of the surprise highlights of the festival and one of the only speakers to receive a standing ovation. Many wondered what a former White House intern, who was the centre of a US Presidential scandal almost two decades ago, would have to offer the creativity festival – but the answer was a lot. In a festival where much of the content was about data and the digital world, Lewinsky’s moving talk spoke to how the digital world has changed behaviour – and not for the better. She brought a much needed human element.
Starting off talking about brand crisis – and how you manage a brand “when the narrative gets away from you” Lewinsky very quickly turned the discussion to how to handle a brand crisis when the brand in question is “you, personally”.
Her particular brand crisis, was one of the first to be spread through the “digital revolution”. “I was patient zero of losing a personal reputation on a global scale instantaneously,” she said outlining how her parents feared that she would be “humiliated to death”.
It was a time before social media, before ideas, positive and negative, could spread like wildfire across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit – something Lewinsky says amplifies public shaming “with no borders”.
“For two decades we’ve been sowing the seeds of shame and public humiliation in our cultural soil … gossip websites, paparazzi, reality programming, politics, news outlets … all traffic in shame … a marketplace has emerged where shame is a commodity and public humiliation an industry … How is the money made? Clicks. The more shame the more clicks. The more clicks, the more advertising dollars,” she said.
There is a responsibility on the advertising community to play a positive role, she added, ending the powerful speech with a plea: “The internet is the superhighway of the id, but showing empathy to others online benefits us all … we need to communicate online with compassion …click with compassion. All of the most vibrant, creative minds in the world are here [in Cannes] this week. You are the creative engines that will drive forward out culture. Will you help me?”
To which the audience stood up, cried and clapped. The answer was yes – but the question is how?
This article first appeared within the Cannes 2015 Special Report in the July 10 issue of AdNews. Subscribe to AdNews in Print, or get it now on iPad.
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