{"id":269671,"date":"2021-06-09T00:06:20","date_gmt":"2021-06-08T21:06:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/inside-the-1991-clio-awards-debacle-30-years-on\/"},"modified":"2021-06-09T00:06:20","modified_gmt":"2021-06-08T21:06:20","slug":"inside-the-1991-clio-awards-debacle-30-years-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/inside-the-1991-clio-awards-debacle-30-years-on\/","title":{"rendered":"#Inside the 1991 Clio Awards debacle, 30 years on"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Inside the 1991 Clio Awards debacle, 30 years on<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n

On June 13, 1991, the prestigious Clio Awards <\/a>for excellence in the advertising industry was a night to remember \u2013 for all the wrong reasons.<\/p>\n

Unlike the dignified affairs of previous years, the banquet at New York\u2019s Manhattan Center studios descended into what journalist Trip<\/a> Gabriel called a \u201ccrush of muscle and tuxedos\u201d when a mob of guests stormed the stage.<\/p>\n

Most of the insurgents \u2014 the type of creatives who brought you the Energizer Bunny, the singing raisins and the Pillsbury Doughboy \u2014 grabbed coveted statuettes they hadn\u2019t won.<\/p>\n

In his post-mortem for Vanity Fair, Gabriel described the debacle as \u201cadvertising\u2019s own \u2018Day of the Locust.\u2019 \u201d A witness told Adweek magazine it was \u201cbeyond the beyond-o.\u201d Another attendee compared the spectacle to \u201cwatching piranhas eat the flesh off a cow in a river.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, on the 30th<\/sup> anniversary of the fiasco of a f\u00eate, those involved in the ceremony \u2014 an annual show known as the \u201cOscars of advertising\u201d that was once featured on AMC\u2019s \u201cMad Men\u201d \u2014 have shared their memories with The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt went from this peaceful, sophisticated environment to crazy and frenetic,\u201d said Ron Henderson, a junior copywriter in 1991. \u201cIt was surreal and ridiculous to see folks in suits and ballgowns climbing the stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The
Until that fateful night in 1991, The Clio Awards was a staid occasion. The Mad Men cast (from left) Jon Hamm, Christina Hendricks and John Slattery, was certainly a lot more respectful ahead of Don\u2019s Clio win featured in Season Four of the show. <\/figcaption>
\u00a9AMC\/courtesy Everett Collectio<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The celebration was organized by then-Clio president Bill Evans, a multimillionaire with a a penchant for prostitutes and crack cocaine. His mismanagement of the awards was attributed to greed, incompetence and even fraud, an accusation that was later investigated by the Manhattan District Attorney.<\/p>\n

Even before the Thursday night apocalypse, there had been rumblings of trouble. Rumors spread across Madison Avenue that the flamboyant Evans, who occasionally passed himself off as the brother of \u201cDynasty\u201d star Linda Evans, had fled to the Bahamas to dodge his creditors. Practically the only piece of gossip that was true was the mass resignation of more than 10 disgruntled Clio employees who went unpaid for a month.<\/p>\n

The money collected for the awards, which, at the time, cost $85 to enter and $125 to attend, went straight up Evans\u2019 crack pipe. Earlier that year, his erratic behavior was challenged by his daughter, Kema Whelan, a member of the Clio staff. He spat in her face, and she retaliated with a right hook, knocking her dad out cold.<\/p>\n

\"Ron
Ad man Ron Henderson legitimately won a Clio in 1991 but had to fight for his rightful ownership. <\/figcaption>
Courtesy of Ron Henderson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That spring, Page Six logged a series<\/a> of police calls to Evans\u2019 townhouse in Sutton Place. The residence near the tony home of Henry Kissinger had become a drug den.<\/p>\n

\u201cA bunch of young runaways preyed upon very wealthy people like Bill,\u201d said Tony Gulisano, who had worked at the Clios since 1982. He added, \u201cBefore that, he\u2019d just been an alcoholic \u2014 like the entire industry \u2014 but it never impacted the business. The crack was the beginning of the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the night that lives in infamy, the buffet was catered by the upscale company Sterling Affair. Then co-owned by Stephen Pieretti, whose job involved schmoozing with celebrities like Tony Bennett, Norman \u201cStormin\u2019 Norman\u201d Schwarzkopf and Cyndi Lauper, it also supplied sumptuous platters to the Plaza and Waldorf Astoria hotels. The boldface names who used the firm\u2019s services included Donald Trump and Diane Sawyer.<\/p>\n

\"Caterer
In this photo from the early 90s, caterer Steve Pieretti (left) poses with crooner Tony Bennett and Peter Fazio, the current owner of Sterling Affair.<\/figcaption>
Courtesy of Stephen Pieretti<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the late 1980s, Evans had paid the vendor to build a replica of a 25-foot yacht christened the SS Clio. The spectacular vessel \u2014 which had 15,000 shrimp attached to its sails \u2014 became synonymous with the awards ceremony and the excesses of the late \u201980s and early \u201990s. <\/p>\n

That particular evening, however, Pieretti\u2019s role went beyond supervising the hors d\u2019oeuvres.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe kept waiting for Bill to arrive, but he was a no-show,\u201d he recalled to The Post. After 90 minutes \u2014 when everybody took full advantage of the free bar \u2014 a frazzled party planner asked Pieretti to emcee. He said, \u201cA caterer will always protect the client, so I said, \u2018I can pull it off.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

Unlucky for him, most of the winners\u2019 list was missing. Slides on a projector displaying the successful entries were upside down or out of focus. Much to the annoyance of the increasingly restless crowd, the creators of the unidentified radio and print ads were asked to introduce themselves onstage.<\/p>\n

\"Thirty
Thirty years on, caterer Steve Pieretti looks back on the bonkers 1991 Clio Awards with a combination of horror and amusement. <\/figcaption>
New York Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cEventually, I ran out of script<\/a>,\u201d admitted Pieretti, of New Hope, Pennsylvania. \u201cI said to the audience: \u2018I\u2019m sorry, I\u2019m just the caterer.\u2019 And that\u2019s when the place went crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

He heard booing and sensed unrest. \u201cI made the cut-throat sign across my neck, alerting my staff that it was time to leave,\u201d he recalled. The crew packed up their food trucks and sped off.<\/p>\n

It was a wise move. Spying the remaining awards on a table, an opportunist from the peanut gallery shouted: \u201cF \u2013 \u2013 k it, I\u2019m taking one!\u201d He dashed to the front, climbed onto the platform and scooped up two Clios, holding them aloft like Rocky Balboa.<\/p>\n

This act of defiance triggered a stampede. Close to 150 people jostled to bag a trophy. Evans hadn\u2019t bothered to get them engraved or labeled, so it didn\u2019t matter who got what.<\/p>\n

\"A
Golden Clio statuettes are known in the industry as \u201cThe Oscars of Advertising.\u201d<\/figcaption>
Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Meanwhile, copywriter Henderson, the legitimate recipient of an award, surveyed the proceedings with bemusement. He spotted an acquaintance standing on a chair, frantically waving his arms and shouting, \u201cPlease, please, everyone stop this madness!\u201d But nobody paid attention.<\/p>\n

Minutes later, the rookie was called to action by an executive from his agency. \u201cHe yelled: \u2018Go get your Clio!\u2019 \u201d said Henderson. He didn\u2019t need telling twice. <\/p>\n

He vaulted onto the stage where a sharp-elbowed colleague handed him a random statuette. The chaos was caught on camera by photographers, one of whom landed the cover of Adweek. The headline read: \u201cClio Free For All\u201d above an incriminating image of the looters helping themselves.<\/p>\n

The following day, The Post sent an intrepid reporter to question Evans at his Midtown office. But our news<\/a>man was confronted \u201cby a young man who threatened him with brass knuckles.\u201d The boss was nowhere to be seen.<\/p>\n

Evans filed for bankruptcy in 1992, claiming $1.8 million in debt. He was forced to sell the Clios, and died in 2014 <\/a>at the age of 83. <\/p>\n

Today, the Clios, established in 1959, are still held \u2013 with a greatly improved reputation. So much so that Bravo and SiriusXM star Andy Cohen <\/a>hosted the 2018 event, marking the ceremony\u2019s 60th anniversary. Ironically, it was held at the Manhattan Center.<\/p>\n

As for Henderson, now a creative director in Dallas, Texas, he has won four more Clios over the past three decades. But the first award from 1991 is the one he treasures most. \u201cThe unlabeled statuette from that circus of a night,\u201d said Henderson, \u201cis oddly more fun to own than the rest.\u201d\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“#Inside the 1991 Clio Awards debacle, 30 years on” On June 13, 1991, the prestigious Clio Awards for excellence in the advertising industry was a night to remember \u2013 for all the wrong reasons. Unlike the dignified affairs of previous years, the banquet at New York\u2019s Manhattan Center studios descended into what journalist Trip Gabriel…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":269672,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/06\/clio-award-main.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[108651,70784,5519,30538,71815],"class_list":["post-269671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-6-8-21","tag-advertising","tag-awards","tag-mad-men","tag-madison-avenue"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269671\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}