“We have taken our grievances to court and we pray that the judiciary will declare a verdict that will ensure a future awards show, sans such manipulations and personal prejudices.”
The plaintiff, Triad, which has won the contest thrice, has filed the case in the district court of Colombo.
Triad has also asked for a court restraining order preventing the defendants from going ahead with the awards, to be held in May, with the existing selection criteria.
Under a previous criteria, known as the Olympic tally system, the agency that bagged the highest number of gold medals was judged winners of Chillies, Dilith Jayaweera, joint managing director of Triad told a news conference.
Under the present 'metal tally' system the winner is adjudged on the highest number of points accumulated irrespective of the numbers of gold, silver or bronze medals won, he said.
Defendants include the trustees of The Sri Lanka Advertising Awards, headed by Imal Fonseka, Keith Wijesuriya, president, Advertising Agencies Association and Renuka Marshall, president of International Advertising Association, Triad said.
Other defendants include members of the Chillies 2010 organizing committee headed by Rohan Rajaratnam.The Chillies was created by the advertising industry to fulfill a need to have its own awards that concentrates on creativity, rather than the effectiveness of the advertisement.
Corrected
