Ad Corps Converge in Cannes as Their Foundation Goes up in Flames

The rosé will flow freely this week at the Cannes Lions Festival, but beneath the glitz of yacht parties and seaside panels is a darker undercurrent: “The advertising world might be at their funeral without even realizing it,” said Geoffrey Colon, a veteran of both ad agencies and tech companies, to NYT. “Iceberg ahead.” That iceberg is AI, and it’s arriving faster than many agency execs will admit on stage. Officially, AI will be everywhere at Cannes. On every panel and in every pitch. Unofficially, the talks on the Croisette will mask a more uncomfortable truth: the platforms (the Metas, the Googles, the Amazons) have begun building tools that might render the traditional agency irrelevant for all but the most high-concept creative briefs. Meta’s recent announcement ab