Rethink and ZAK win Gold Lions on first night in Cannes

The International Festival of Creativity’s first live-and-in-person awards show in three years took place Monday night in Cannes, and it was a particularly good show for Zulu Alpha Kilo and Rethink.

Both agencies won Gold Lions: Zulu Alpha Kilo with client Pfaff Harley-Davidson for “Tough Turban” in the Health & Wellness competition, and Rethink with Kraft Heinz for “Draw Ketchup” in Print & Publishing.

Lions were handed out in five different competitions, with Canada winning eight Lions (two Gold, six Bronze) in total. Here’s the recap, along with the submission videos for each of the Grand Prix winners.

Health & Wellness Lions (3 Canadian Lions)

ZAK’s Gold wasn’t the only hardware for the agency in the Health & Wellness competition, as it also won Bronze for the “Micropedia of Microaggressions,” created for a group of four Canadian diversity and inclusion advocacy groups.

Also in Health & Wellness, FCB Canada Toronto won Bronze for “The Mindsets Paper” for the Canadian Down Syndrome Society.

A total of seven Gold Lions and 38 Lions were handed out from 1,213 total submissions in the competition. The Grand Prix went to India’s VMLY&R Mumbai for “The Killer Pack” for Maxx Flash.

 

Print & Publishing (3 Canadian Lions)

Aside from its Gold, Rethink also won a Bronze in Print & Publishing for Fondation Émergence’s “Colours of Pride.” It was joined on the Print & Publishing winners list by Cossette Montreal, which picked up a campaign Bronze for two ads, “Fries” (right) and “Big Mac” for McDonald’s.

There were just 21 Lions handed out from 795 submissions.

The Grand Prix was given to the United Arab Emirates agency Impact BBDO Dubai and An-Nahar newspaper for “The Election Edition.”


Outdoor (2 Canadian Lions)

There were two Canadian winners in Outdoor, with Publicis Montreal and Burger King winning Bronze for “Ron’s,” while another Bronze went to Taxi Toronto and Human Rights Foundation for “Uncomfortable Truth.”

The Outdoor jury awarded 49 Lions in total, including 10 Golds, from 1,809 submission.

The Grand Prix also went to the UAE, this time for Havas Middle East, Dubai and Adidas for “Liquid Billboard.”


There were no Canadian entries shortlisted in the Pharma or Radio & Audio competitions, which meant no Canadian winners on Monday night.

Just 23 Lions, only thee of them Gold, were awarded In Radio & Audio, which had a total of 692 total entries. The Grand Prix was given to India’s Dentsu Creative’s offices in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Gurgaon, for Vice Media’s “The Unfiltered History Tour.”

 

In Pharma, just two Gold and 11 Lions were awarded from a total of 298 submissions. The Grand Prix went to VMLY&R New York for Dell’s “I Will Always Be Me.”

 

David Brown