Havas free food at odds with Cannes

The Diary is not a regular at the Cannes International Advertising Festival – but it has inside information that the event is an annual shindig of the type where conspicuous consumption is common and people enjoy “lunches that set in”.

The Diary is not a regular at the Cannes International Advertising Festival – but it has inside information that the event is an annual shindig of the type where conspicuous consumption is common and people enjoy “lunches that set in”.

It expects that champagne is quaffed from cut glass flutes and creatives battle to outdo each other building sandcastles on the beach.

So, the Diary was happy to be invited to the Havas café this year’s – and to enjoy the generous offer of â¬30 of food and drink vouchers. But the Diary can’t help wondering if the concept of food coupons clashes with Havas’ high class image and the Cannes ethos?

Some unkind souls reckon it all rather smacks of luncheon vouchers and the 1970s.