It was an emotional day last Friday as Cannes Lions came to an end and the most gripping work is being presented. If we can grow back coral reefs for no other reason rather than it feels right and looks pretty cool, I really do hope the industry can find a new cause to attach to tenuously fitting clients. Hopefully, we'll see more activations like The Morning After Island by Ogilvy Honduras.
Looking back at the festival, many fun things took place at Cannes, my personal highlight was watching my man Axel receive his Young Cannes Lion Film Award in real-time!
Other great news:
- WPP wins Most Creative Company of The Year!
- Our friends at Ogilvy win Network of The Year!
- I have viewed Lisa Story's AMAZING rave videos from EQUALLY AMAZING Amazon Port, and soon you can too on BCW London's social channels!
THE FINAL LIONS OF 2022!
As usual the final award show for Cannes Lions 2022 is the one where they save the biggest awards for last, meaning the best but – let's be honest – also edgiest work will take the stage. Here are the Grand Prix winners in Glass Lion for Change, Sustainable Development Goals, Grand Prix for Good, Titanium Lions, and Film Lions:
- The Grand Prix Lion in Glass for Change went to We Capital by DDB Mexico City for Data Tienda, which also won the Grand Prix for Creative Data on Thursday. If you watched the case study on Friday morning, you could probably tell that the glass potential was fairly high. But here's a recap – 83% of Mexican women don't have a credit history, which means they can't apply for loans to study or start businesses. However, they've been using credit in local supermarkets for most of their lives. We Capital created Data Tienda – a site where women could enter the information of their neighbourhood creditors, who then left their references through a WhatsApp bot. 1 in 4 women have now successfully applied for a loan by using the initiative. To quote myself, really cool work that has the opportunity to create REAL change!
- The Grand Prix for Sustainable Development Goals is Whisper's The Missing Chapter by Leo Burnett Mumbai. In India, 23 million girls drop out of school as they reach puberty – the main driver is the stigma around periods and girls not being taught about their bodies – nor in school or at home. Whisper decided to write the missing school book chapter, and translated it into 28 different regional languages and art styles. These murals were then posted outside of schools and in villages to give girls the knowledge they need to stay in school. An emotional cause and more so than an actual advertising campaign, if I’m going to be really honest, which I am.
- The Grand Prix for Good went to Save Ralph for Humane Society International, featuring A-listers such as Ricky Gervais, Taika Waititi, Zac Efron, Olivia Munn, and the list goes on. Built like any documentary with talking heads and clapperboards, we get to follow the animated test rabbit, Ralph. We also get to see him being tortured at work whilst he assures us, that 'it's fine really. Without you, I'd be out of a job. I'd be on the streets, or field I guess'. A beautifully crafted and entertaining(?!) yet gripping take on animal cruelty. Another thing worth mentioning is that the Grand Prix for Good is a category for work created for non-profit organisations and charities, which I feel like 70% of the work realistically could have been entered into – I'm definitely looking at you, Hope Reef!
- FINALLY, a Titanium Grand Prix win for my tipped winner and personal favourite – Long Live the Prince by Engine London for the Kiyan Prince Foundation, EA Games, QPR, and Match Attax (originally JD was somewhere in the mix as well). Kiyan was a rising football star who tragically got stabbed to death when he was 15. EA brought Kiyan back into FIFA, playing for his old team QPR, and let him become the football player he was always destined to be. An emotional watch and a brilliant execution. But in proper Petra style, I also have to point out that with that many clients, it will probably be difficult to see what the film achieved for any of them.
- The Film Grand Prix went to two entries. First, to Apple's Escape From the Office. We get to see employees who've had enough of their horrible boss Vivian set up their own company with the help of Apple's products. An entertaining watch that proves that B2B marketing doesn't need to be drier than Sahara to land the message.
- The second Grand Prix went to Channel 4 by 4Creative for Super. Human. A quick recap – 6 years ago Channel 4 got the praise of the world when they created the ad 'We're the Superhumans' to drive viewers to watch the Paralympics. Never before had so many physical disabilities been shown in such a short time and proved so many people wrong. However, over the years voices have been raised about how branding people with disabilities 'superheroes' is turning them into the Other. Abled people are STUNNED and so IMPRESSED that people with disabilities can actually DO things, which is incredibly patronising. Hence, the pushback against using the word 'superheroes'. Channel 4 now proudly joins those voices with this ad, that shows Paralympians like incredible determined, yet struggling to juggle everyday life just like everyone else. The line 'you can't be normal to be a Paralympian' made me smile. But it's a bit weird that they're essentially being sarky against their own ad.
And that my friends, marks the end of the 69th Cannes Lions. Thank you for letting me be your guide – hopefully, we'll all make it to the poolside in Cannes someday ☀️☀️☀️
