Deep Thoughts And Ad Land’s New Spirit

Michael Hedges July 5, 2021 Follow on Twitter

The media world has always looked to their advertising brethren for inspiration. Money was always the most important link but adroit crafting of language long trickled on to media from ad land. So, we had synergy. And it’s coming to an end as these thing often do.

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity - known simply as Cannes Lions - was held during the last week of June. Trade observers noted, with lightly disguised disdain, that this was yet another Zoom fest. slightly fewer entries than 2019, about 29 thousand. The work was compiled over two years as last year’s event was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Cannes Lions would not live up to its fame without the awards. Winning a Cannes Lion award, even being nominated, can make a career or spiff up a CV. It’s the same for being a jury member. There were new categories and subsets to categories highlighting change, digital transformation and a new set of mirrors. Advertising clients - referred to the brands - pay for all of this gladly, it seems, as they are also in the midst of change.

Advertising legend David Ogilvy once said “it’s only creative if it sells.” That was a long time ago. A few of the biggest Cannes Lions winners were selling, if only to make a bigger point. The campaign for Taiwan property developer Sinyi Reality won the Grand Prix in Entertainment for Dentsu Mcgarrybowen Taiwan. “In Love We Trust,” a TV campaign, portrayed a woman working at the Taiwan Household Registration Office counting the marriages and divorces each day, losing faith in lasting love. Taiwan has Asia’s highest divorce rate, surpassing the marriage rate. Sinyi Reality wants to sell houses. The ad is a heart-grabber. It was the first Cannes Grand Prix for a Taiwan agency.

The Grand Prix Brand Experience award was shared by agency David Madrid/Miami and McCann New York for Burger King and MasterCard, respectively. The Burger King campaign focused on “Stevenage Challenge,” its sponsorship of a local football club in the UK. A competition organized through Burger King turned the barely ranked team into a gaming sensation, leading to the Grand Prix for Social and Influencer. Cheering for the underdog is clear winner along with social media.

The MasterCard ad - “True Names” - pitched transgender and non-binary cardholders on using their real names. “It touches you,” said jury president and Havas UK chief creative officer Vicky Maguire in a post-event statement. “That hits something, that you feel before you actually comprehend it.” Along the same lines, VMLY&R Brazil won the Glass Lion for Change Grand Prix for the São Paulo Starbucks “I Am” campaign that turned one location into a notary office where transgender people could legally change their names.

The Cannes Media Grand Prix was shared by FCB Chicago for City of Chicago “Boards of Change” voter registration campaign and Ogilvy Pakistan for Telenor Pakistan’s “Naming the Invisible” campaign. The “Boards of Change” campaign turned boarded up storefronts into voter registration booths and was credited for record 2020 voter turnout. “Naming the Invisible” was mobilized by telecom Telenor to digitally register children in Pakistan for birth certificates, UNESCO participating.

Cannes top award, the Titanium Grand Prix, was awarded to UK agency AMV BBDO for its “Womb Pain Stories” campaign for Libresse/Bodyform. Lest the live-action video of women enduring the pain endometriosis to the shame of miscarriage push the line, animation was interspersed. No emotion was spared. Such is the often silent story of women’s health. It’s “neither happy nor sad,” said AMV BBDO executive creative director Nadja Lossgott to AdWeek (June 25). “It’s tragic, it’s hopeful.” Libresse/Bodyform is the feminine hygiene brand of Swedish consumer product producer Essity.

There was grousing within ad land about the lack of humor in this year’s Cannes Lions big winners and some about the “purpose parade.” Others complained about the show itself. “It is only a matter of time before the word radio disappears from my Radio and Audio category,” said Publicis Group creative director Dennis May. "Music turns into medical therapy, sound design turns electric cars into positive climate protectors, the right frequency makes every beer better, to name just a few examples."

“There is no dynamic because you don't talk to each other, but one after the other,” said Jung von Matt / Saga creative director Dörte Spengler-Ahrens, by German marketing portal W&V (June 28). “Because you can't look at each other. Because you don't feel any human reactions. Just zoom.”

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