CANNES, France—Pharrell Williams projects were the pride of the Cannes Lions festival here tonight.

Not only did the singer's "24 Hours of Happy" video win a Grand Prix in Cyber, but his "RAW for the Oceans" line of denim, made of recycled ocean debris, picked up the Grand Prix in the inaugural Product Design Lions contest as well.

In addition to his musical career, Williams is the creative director of Bionic Yarn, which makes yarn and fabric out of recycled plastic bottles. Bionic Yarn teamed up with G-Star this year to produce "RAW for the Oceans," a line of denim made specifically from plastic reclaimed from the ocean.

G-Star RAW, FHV BBDO and Part of a Bigger Plan, all in Amsterdam, were listed as the co-entrants of the campaign.

See the video below, and learn more here.



Much like the Creative Effectiveness and Titanium & Integrated Lions, the Product Design Lions do not give out golds, silvers and bronzes. The category simply bestows Product Design Lions—and precious few of them, too. The definition of product design that the jury uses is "the applied use of physical products in aiding the communication of a brand ethos as well as its use to have a positive impact on improving people's lives.

Eight Product Design Lions were given out tonight, three of them to U.S. entrants: Landor Associates and Landscape Forms for redesigning Central Park's waste and recycling receptacles; Nest and Bould Design for developing the Nest Learning Thermostat for the U.K. market; and The Ebeling Group, Not Impossible Labs and Richard Van As/Robohand for its 3-D printing of prosthetic arms in war-torn Sudan.

Here are all the Product Design winners:

• G-Star RAW Amsterdam / FHV BBDO Amsterdam / Part of a Bigger Plan Amsterdam - RAW for the Oceans - The Netherlands - Grand Prix
• Landor Associates New York / Landscape Forms Kalamazoo - Central Park Conservancy Receptacles - USA - Product Design Lion
• Nest Palo Alto / Bould Design Mountain View - Nest Learning Thermostat for the U.K. - USA - Product Design Lion
• The Ebeling Group New York / Not Impossible Labs Venice / Richard Van As | Robohand Johannesburg - Project Daniel: 3D Printing Prosthetic Arms for Children of War-Torn Sudan - USA - Product Design Lion
• Map London - Kano Kit - Kano - United Kingdom - Product Design Lion
• Samsung Electronics Seoul - Food Showcase - South Korea - Product Design Lion
• Ogilvy & Mather London - Freedom Candles - Amnesty International - United Kingdom - Product Design Lion
• Leloi Ab Stockholm - Ora Personal Massager - Sweden - Product Design Lion
• Samsung Electronics Seoul / Samsung Electronics Seoul - Samsung Galaxy Core Advance - South Korea - Product Design Lion

CANNES, France—Norwegian agency Anti Design won the coveted Design Grand Prix here tonight for a fascinating branding identity campaign for a music and arts festival, the centerpiece being a logo that was both visual and, in a way, musical.

"Looking to bridge musical and visual language, we started with what they both had in common: being constructed from a single fundamental element—a note and a pixel," the agency explains in its case study for the Bergen International Festival campaign.

The shop created a simple, iconic F logo from three lines. "Like a chord constructed of various notes, we were able to establish a mathematical system—a system that allows the logo to grow, subdivide and rhythmically repeat like musical units, creating a beat or tempo. By visualizing music through these modular systems, we were able to create an identity that is strong and flexible with endless possibilities, yet never loses brand recognition. A logo that is both a traditional logo, and a living identity."

See more in the case study here:



Interbrand in New York and TBWA\Media Arts Lab in Los Angeles led the way among U.S. agencies, both winning gold Lions.

Interbrand won for its entry into the Mandela95 Poster Project, which invited artists from all over the world to honor Nelson Mandela's 95th birthday, and his life, through the design of a commemorative poster. The size of the poster, A2, was the project's only creative parameter—but Interbrand's poster unfold into an 8-by-7-foot rectangle when placed on the ground, which was almost the exact size of Mandela's cell at Robben Island, where he spent 27 years in prison. The poster read, "He illuminated the world from an 8-foot cell," in black sans serif font on a yellow background. The contrast of black to yellow was designed to transport viewers into Mandela's darkness during those 27 years, illuminated only by his enduring optimism and spirit.

TBWA\MAL won for its intricately designed "Intention" film for Apple, which paired simple phrases with elegant visuals to describe the thoughts and emotions that go into the creation of Apple products.



See the full list of U.S. Design winners here:

• Interbrand New York - Mandela Poster Project's Paper Prison - Gold Lion
• TBWA\Media Arts Lab Los Angeles - Apple's Intention - Gold Lion

• Ogilvy & Mather New York - IBM's Datagrams - Silver Lion

• Ogilvy & Mather Chicago - Steppenwolf Theatre's The Qualms, The Wheel, Tribes and Way Way West - Bronze Lion Campaign
• The Martin Agency Richmond, Va. - Oreo's Anthem - Bronze Lion
• Grupo Gallegos Huntington Beach, Calif. - Alzheimer's Association's Husband - Bronze Lion
• Projector New York - Uniqlo Hairdo - Bronze Lion
• Mullen Boston - National Geographic Channel's Killing Kennedy - Bronze Lion
• DDB New York - WaterIsLife's Drinkable Book - Bronze Lion

CANNES, France—Score another one for the grinch.

London agency adam&eveDDB and retailer Harvey Nichols picked up their second Grand Prix of this Cannes Lions festival here tonight, winning the Press contest for "Sorry, I Spent It on Myself," two night after picking up the Promo & Activation Grand Prix for the same campaign.

The darkly amusing holiday campaign advertised cheap gifts you could buy for friends and family so you could spend more on yourself.

U.S. agencies won two silver Lions and two bronze Lions, with BBDO New York collecting one of each. Here are all the U.S. winners:

• BBDO New York - Foot Locker - Foot Locker - Beard, Close, Costumes, Silly, Mud, Bird - Silver Lion Campaign
• DDB New York - New York Lottery - New York Lottery - Car, Jacuzzi, Ski, Fireplace - Silver Lion Campaign

• BBDO New York - Mars Chocolate North America - Snickers Bites - Bear - Bronze Lion
• Fitzgerald+Co Atlanta - Howard's Auto Body - Body Shop - Sports Car, Vintage Car, Truck - Bronze Lion Campaign

You can see five print ads from the Harvey Nichols campaign below.

Specs
Who (From left) Ross Resnick, founder and Big Burrito; Ryan van de Griendt, director of operations; Megan Madsen, account manager; Cory Murphy, director of new business
What Experiential marketing agency and food truck locator
Where Los Angeles

In 2009, when marketing alum Ross Resnick founded online food truck locator Roaming Hunger, the concept of mobile food merchants as an epicurean trend hadn’t exactly taken off. “People thought I was a little bit crazy,” he recalled. Five years later, they couldn’t have been more wrong. Roaming Hunger has since added an app, a food truck marketplace and an experiential marketing arm that links clients as diverse as Saks Fifth Avenue, Spike TV, Bravo’s Top Chef and singer Kelis with mobile food vendors for live promotional events. “The underlying philosophy of all of our promotions is that swag goes only so far, but with food, you can get a more engaging and deeper experience,” said Resnick.

Crispin Porter + Bogusky has worked hard in the past couple of years to reinvigorate the Grey Poupon brand, which has such an iconic advertising history. But no, "What Do You Poupon?" is not the next big experiment for the brand.

It's a spoof video that OBVS (Online Broadcast Virtual Station), which is apparently a sketch comedy group, posted to YouTube last weekend. It's since gotten 1.7 million views.

The reactions among YouTube commenters—not know for their sophisticated sense of humor—aren't surprising, particularly those drawn to Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog style humor. "This had just had me cackling like a small child." "Childish humor. Ageless." "If I could upvote this twice, I would, because it was EPIC!!!"

Kraft Foods gave us the official word that it's fake, but even they don't seem too bothered by it. Says a rep: "We're not surprised that people may have some fun with an iconic and loved brand like Grey Poupon. 'But of course,' we didn't produce or approve this video."

Life is good for Landon Donovan, even though he isn't playing in the 2014 World Cup—at least according to this new ad for EA Sports.

Instead of participating in the world's biggest sporting event, the U.S. soccer icon is rolling out of bed late in the morning and chilling in his terry cloth bathrobe, enjoying his morning coffee and playing as himself in the PlayStation 3's 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil (where, apparently, it's easier for him to score.)

The spot is a clever, topical and deftly executed take on U.S. coach Jürgen Klinsmann's controversial decision not to bring Donovan with the national team to Brazil, a move that observers will continue to parse as the tournament unfolds.

Donovan's self-deprecating performance in the ad is excellent, especially at the end of the clip, when a deadpan song about getting left behind turns out to be less morose than it seems.

But if he does start getting lonely, he can always go hang out with Beckham and Zidane in Adidas' ad. Nike, though, probably wouldn't like that much.

Mike's Hard Lemonade has changed its name—in a temporary, promotional-stunt kind of way—to Paul's Hard Lemonade to salute Paul Siano of Illinois, the 1 millionth fan on its Facebook page.

The Tris3ct agency orchestrated the effort, which boasts a "Paul's Hard Lemonade" rebranding of the Mike's website, along with its Facebook and Twitter pages, through Friday. Special packaging, labels, logos and T-shirts were created, and Siano was presented with a six-pack of his namesake brew. The renaming was launched within 24 hours of identifying him as the millionth fan, and of course there's a commemorative video (with a disco soundtrack and a big crate of lemons in the brand's office!).

Hmm … Paul's Hard Lemonade. It's got a nice ring to it. I guess. Even so, it's no Dave's Hard Lemonade. Now that would be refreshing.

CANNES, France—Women dressed as nurses handed out special high-tech wristbands designed to track the audience's "biometric data" at Saatchi & Saatchi's 2014 New Directors' Showcase here this morning.

The peaks and valleys of our blood pressure probably weren't as dramatic as last year, though, when Saatchi screened a truly intense set of ads, music videos and art pieces. This year's "Feel the Reel" collection of 19 films was frenetic, brooding, hilarious and only occasionally graphic—with less sex and violence but perhaps more conceptual high points.

The batch included several well-known ads—among them, Wren's super-viral "First Kiss" ad by director Tatia Pilieva and the Sunday Times' "Icons" spot by Academy Films directors Us.

We've collected 11 of the films below, and divided them into the ridiculous and the sublime. I'll describe the ridiculous ones, while Saatchi worldwide digital creative director Tom Eslinger was kind enough to offer his thoughts on the sublime ones.

 
—THE RIDICULOUS

• Tripp Crosby
"Conference Call in Real Life"
Office humor at its best. The title says it all, and this is one of those clips that just keeps getting better as you get toward the end.

 
• Kyra & Constantin
"Rollin' Wild"
Nothing goes right for the rotund creatures in Kyra & Constantin's charming animated short, which left the Palais crowd cheering.

 
• Alvise Avati
"Beans"
We've posted this one before, but it never gets old. The Cinesite VFX showpiece of spec is brilliantly executed, with a killer punch line.

 
• Alberto Belli
"It's Not Porn"
We won't spoil the ending of this one. Another comedy triumph from this morning's event.

 
—THE SUBLIME

To set some context around my favorites, I'm the guy on the Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide Creative Board that usually brings experimental weird things, stuff that makes you watch through your fingers or weird technology that we need to figure out how to show in the Palais des Festivals at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Oh, and anything that is designed within an inch of its life. —Tom Eslinger, Saatchi & Saatchi worldwide digital creative director

• Tarik Abdel-Gawad
"Box"
When film crosses over into different technologies—motion controlled robotics and integrated projections—and lets the craft and beauty shine above the technology, you get something magical like "Box." This will inspire many bad copies and appear on many mood reels for less good ideas! —T.E.

 
• Donato Sansone
"GrotesquePhotobooth"
I always try to bring the most disgusting, yet gorgeously executed films to the Worldwide Creative Board for consideration for NDS. I'm bummed that I didn't find this gem. Must. Try. Harder. —T.E.

Note: This film is graphic and NSFW.

 
• The Sacred Egg
Breach "Jack"
I brought this to the Worldwide Creative Board meeting as one of my contenders. The giggling, smiles and foot-tapping commenced. I love the art direction and the detail put into a video that takes icy EDM and makes it cuddly and fun. —T.E.

 
• Emile Sornin
Disclosure "Grab Her"
I love the weirdness here: A boss that you love to hate that appears to be Magneto's fat cousin from Slough. Emile Sornin had a blast imagining, crafting and really sweating the hell out of the details in this clip. —T.E.

 
• Josh Cole
Rudimental "Not Giving In"
Wow. Remember when music videos were events and crammed an entire movie worth of story into four minutes? If MTV still played proper music films, this would be on heavy rotation. —T.E.

 
• Truman & Cooper
Kid Wise "Hope"
I described this as an H&M shoot that stumbled into Friday the 13th Part 15. I love me some skanky kids with time on their hands, and the direction and styling makes it hard to look away. The way Truman and Cooper set up the menacing atmosphere, you know he isn't going to get the girl. —T.E.

 
• Vania Heymann
Bob Dylan "Like a Rolling Stone"
See the interactive video here.
I'm an art director and a sucker for any sort of interactive film. "Like a Rolling Stone" has such awesome craft and and lets me really imagine that these people really are slurring the words together. —T.E.

CANNES, France—The Cannes Lions festival is trying something new this year. It's streaming one session per day live globally on YouTube.

At 4 p.m. ET today, you can watch BBDO's seminar, titled "Nice Is the New Black," with Beck Bennett (the star of SNL and BBDO's AT&T kids ads) moderating a conversation with BBDO's David Lubars and Josy Paul. Click below to play.



Below is the description from the agency.

It's interesting how a lot of the great work out there right now is void of sarcasm, cynicism or nastiness. It's pure, straight up, emotional. And highly creative. Is it because the world is presently so bruising that people are seeking out whatever glimmer of hope and goodness they can find?

To try to answer this and other questions regarding the "new nice", Beck Bennett, star of the Lion-winning "It's Not Complicated" AT&T program, will moderate a conversation between David Lubars, BBDO Worldwide Chief Creative Officer, and Josy Paul, Chairman/Chief Creative Officer of BBDO India. They'll also discuss how to do nice without being maudlin, overly sentimental or hacky—harder to do than it sounds.

To prove its point that people undergoing torture will tell anyone anything (thus negating it as a viable intelligence-gathering technique), Amnesty International is pairing images of beaten, battered famous people with extremely out-of-character quotes they would say only under extreme duress.

For example, Iggy Pop's jacked-up face (which isn't too far from how he looks after concerts) appears to say, "The future of rock 'n' roll is Justin Bieber." The Dalai Lama is the other notable face in this campaign so far; his fake quote is, "A man who does not have a Rolex watch at 50 years old has failed in his life." The tagline is, "Torture a man and he will tell you anything."

This might be the funniest stuff Amnesty International has ever done, and it illustrates the point about torture really well. I wonder if Funhouse-era Iggy Pop ever thought he and the Dalai Lama would have any connection whatsoever.

CANNES, France—There's no shortage of space-themed advertising out there. And not surprisingly, Neil deGrasse Tyson loves it.

Speaking to Cannes Lions TV after his Thursday seminar here, the astrophysicist was asked what it means to be creative—and to reveal his favorite ad of all time. His choice for the latter is a great one: the 2012 Perrier spot "The Drop" from Ogilvy Paris (and Swedish music-video director Johan Renck) in which a woman is charged with ending an oppressive heat wave enveloping Earth—by traveling to the sun intending to douse it in Perrier.

Tyson practically acts out the commercial in the video below. The whole thing is worth a watch, but skip to 2:30 to see the Perrier bit.

CANNES, France—The Cannes Lions festival is mostly about real advertising, but once in a while the fake stuff sneaks in.

And in that category, none was better this year than "It's Not Porn," a video screened at the Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors' Showcase in the Palais on Thursday, where it was loudly cheered. Director Alberto Belli made the piece almost a year ago, but it got a whole new audience this week.

We won't spoil it—check it out below.



"I had heard a lot of stories from friends who are actors about the stuff they have to do on auditions," Belli told Shoot about the inspiration for the film. "Then I was watching TV one day and I wondered about a girl in a sex scene. What would she tell me if I asked her how she got the role? I thought it would be funny to play with that concept."

"It's Not Porn" isn't Belli's only viral success. He also made "For Your Consideration," a spoof of Les Misérables and actress Anne Hathaway's pursuit of an Oscar nomination.

See that one below.

CANNES, France—Russia made history here tonight, winning the Grand Prix in the Innovation Lions category for a telecom's installation at the Sochi Olympics that used sophisticated technology to let visitors take giant 3-D "selfies" on a board that acted like a huge pin screen.

The so-called MegaFaces Pavilion, sponsored by MegaFon, consisted of 11,000 telescopic cylinders, each of which represented a pixel. As on a pin screen, the cylinders could extend to form the shape of the faces, and LED lights at the ends of the cylinders added the proper color and shading. The data for the 3-D faces was generated in 3-D photo booths inside the building.

It's the first Grand Prix ever won by by Russia at the Cannes Lions festival. The work is credited to Axis Moscow and Asif Khan Ltd in London.

"It's just really a beautiful design," said jury president Tom Bedecarré of AKQA. "It's the first time we've ever seen anything like this from a technology standpoint."

"It's actually coming up with a new art form," added juror Sune Kaae of R/GA.

Three other Innovation Lions were handed out tonight. And a U.S. agency, Breakfast NY, snagged one of them for "Points," a rotating digital street sign built to display a flexible range of data, from which favorably reviewed restaurants are within walking distance to nearby tweets.

Agênciaclick Isobar and Questto No, both in São Paulo, won a Lion for the Fiat Live Store. And Ogilvy Paris won a Lion for Babolat Play. See the case studies for all three below.

This is only the second year of the Innovation Lions. The Barbarian Group won the Grand Prix last year for a software-development platform it built for creative coders.

CANNES, France—Thirteen campaigns worldwide, including six from the U.S., won gold Lions in Film Craft here tonight. But the Film Craft jury declined to award a Grand Prix in the category.

"There were several pieces in contention but we felt it would be unfair to lean in any one direction," jury president Brian Carmody, co-founder of Smuggler, said of the decision not to award a Grand Prix.

The Film Craft Lions honor the quality and aesthetic of the filmmaking process. The U.S. winners were led by Interlude in New York, which won two golds for its interactive "Like a Rolling Stone" video advertising a career-spanning box set for Bob Dylan.

The other U.S. golds went to:

• Wieden + Kennedy in Portland, Ore., and Park Pictures in New York for Procter & Gamble's "Pick Them Back Up"

• BBDO New York for Bud Light's "Ian/Up for Whatever"

 
• Anomaly New York for Dick's Sporting Goods' "Focus and Explode"

 
• CAA Marketing in Los Angeles for Chipotle's "The Scarecrow"

 
• SS+K and O Positive Films, both in New York, for HBO Go's Awkward Family Viewing campaign

The non-U.S. gold Lion winners were:

• Blink Productions London/Wieden + Kennedy London - Production Co.: Blink Productions London - Cook's Range - Lurpak - 2 Gold Lions
• Clemenger BBDO Wellington - Production Co.: Curious Film Auckland - Blazed - New Zealand Transport Agency - 2 Gold Lions
• Dimension San Sebastian - Production Co.: Debolex San Sebastian/Irusoin San Sebastian - EITB-Better With Music Obama, Eitb Better With Music Mourinho - EITB - Gold Lion Campaign
• Forsman & Bodenfors Gothenburg - Production Co.: Folke Stockholm - The Epic Split - Volvo Trucks - Gold Lion
• mcgarrybowen London - Production Co.: Gorgeous London/The Mill London - Honda Illusions - Honda - Gold Lion
• Wave Studios London/Wieden + Kennedy London - Production Co.: Blink Productions London - Adventure Awaits - Arla Foods - Gold Lion
• MPC London/Sid Lee Paris - Production Co.: Stink London - Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag, Defy - Ubisoft - Gold Lion

CANNES, France—Doing good things for others has been a major theme at Cannes Lions this year. Ironically, though, the festival's single biggest winner did precisely the opposite. It comically celebrated selfishness.

adam&eveDDB picked up an Integrated Grand Prix and a Film Grand Prix here tonight for Harvey Nichols' "Sorry, I Spent It on Myself," the darkly amusing 2013 holiday campaign that advertised cheap gifts you could buy for friends and family so you could spend more on yourself.

The campaign had already won Grand Prix in Press and in Promo & Activation, and so its total Grand Prix haul is four. That puts it in second place all time for Grand Prix wins, trailing only last year's smash hit, "Dumb Ways to Die" from McCann Melbourne, which won five.

"It expands the way we use advertising," Titanium & Integrated jury president Prasoon Joshi of McCann Worldgroup India said of the Harvey Nichols work.

"To take greed and make people laugh and smile about it is, I think, incredibly difficult. And as a film, it's a perfect piece of film," said Film juror Pete Favat of Deutsch/LA.





There were two other Grand Prix winners in the Film Lions and Titanium & Integrated Lions categories.

Forsman & Bodenfors won a Grand Prix in Film for "The Epic Split," its super-viral spot for Volvo Trucks starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. (The "Live Test Series" work also won a gold Lion in Titanium & Integrated.)

And Dentsu in Tokyo won the Titanium Grand Prix for its "Sound of Honda/Ayrton Senna 1989" work. That campaign took the driving data from Ayrton Senna's famous 1989 Formula 1 qualifying lap and reproduced it in a stunning installation of light and sound.

"It kind of had everything," Film juror Al Mosely of 180 Amsterdam said of "Epic Split." "It had the product really at the heart of the story. It was a fantastic demo, but it was more than that. It was a sort of spiritual meditation. It has been the most successful piece of film over the past 12 months."

"Here is an idea that converts boring data, dry data, into emotional data," Joshi said of Honda's Ayrton Senna campaign. "It connects with you at a human level. It's very difficult to do something like that."

Asked whether "Epic Split" was considered for the Titanium Grand Prix, Titanium & Integrated juror Anselmo Ramos of Ogilvy Brazil said: "At the core it's a product demo, and it's really well done. We think it's not necessarily pushing the industry forward like a Titanium winner should do."





The U.S. fared well in both Titanium & Integrated and Film. See recaps of the rest of the action in both categories below.

—TITANIUM & INTEGRATED LIONS

The U.S. won two Titanium Lions, along with a silver Lion and three bronze Lions in this combined category.

The Titanium Lions went to The Ebeling Group/Not Impossible Labs for its "Project Daniel" work in 3-D printing prosthetic limbs for injured children in Sudan; and to Grey New York for its "Unload Your 401K" anti-gun campaign.

Droga5 won a silver and a bronze for Newcastle Brown Ale's "If We Made It" and Prudential's "Chapter Two," respectively. CAA Marketing in Los Angeles and Wieden + Kennedy in Portland, Ore., won bronze for Chipotle's "The Scarecrow" and Old Spice's hair-care campaign.

Here is some of what the jurors had to say about some of the other winning work:

On Memac Ogilvy's "Autocomplete Truth" for UN Women:
"That's another idea that's very simple, but it shakes you. It jolts you." —Prasoon Joshi

On The Ebeling Group/Not Impossible Labs' "Project Daniel":
"Villages that have been war-torn were able to create their own prosthetic arms for $100. It's one of those ideas that changes lives and is conscious of doing it in a way that's sustainable and not expensive." —Kevin Brady of Droga5

On Grey New York's "Unload Your 401K":
"A lot of what you see from advertising or advergood, if you will, is about creating awareness. This actually gave people a solution, a way to deal with it. As someone who sits in a publicly held company, I realize that's a hell of a big idea." —Gaston Legorburu of SapientNitro

Below are are all the winners in Titanium & Integrated:

• Dentsu Tokyo - Sound Of Honda/Ayrton Senna 1989 - Honda Motor Co. - Titanium Grand Prix
• adam&eveDDB London - Sorry I Spent It On Myself - Harvey Nichols - Integrated Grand Prix
• Memac Ogilvy Dubai - The Autocomplete Truth - UN Women - Titanium Lion
• The Ebeling Group New York/Not Impossible Labs Venice - Project Daniel: 3D Printing Prosthetic Arms For Children Of War-Torn Sudan - Titanium Lion
• Grey New York - Unload Your 401K - States United to Prevent Gun Violence - Titanium Lion
• Forsman & Bodenfors Gothenburg - Live Test Series Integrated Campaign - Volvo Trucks - Gold Lion
• Leo Burnett Paris - If Only For a Second - Mimi Foundation - Silver Lion
• Droga5 New York - If We Made It - Newcastle Brown Ale - Silver Lion
• adam&eveDDB London - Bear & Hare - John Lewis - Bronze Lion
• BVH Identity Driven Advertising Rotterdam - Do Not Frighten President Putin - Amnesty International The Netherlands - Bronze Lion
• Droga5 New York - Chapter Two - Prudential - Bronze Lion
• Creative Artists Agency Los Angeles - The Scarecrow - Chipotle Mexican Grill - Bronze Lion
• Wieden + Kennedy Portland - Old Spice Hair Care Integrated Campaign - Bronze Lion

—FILM LIONS

The U.S. won seven golds in Film, along with eight silvers and 14 bronzes.

Wieden + Kennedy fared the best among U.S. agencies, picking up three golds (for Southern Comfort, Old Spice and Nike), two silvers (for Old Spice and Procter & Gamble) and two bronzes (for Nike and P&G).

The other U.S. golds went to BBH New York (for Sony PlayStation's "Perfect Day"), Durable Goods in Los Angeles (for Wren's viral "First Kiss" video), Barton F. Graf 9000 in New York (for "Climate Name Change") and DDB New York (for WaterIsLife's "Bucket List").

See all the U.S. winners here:

• Wieden + Kennedy New York - Shampoo, Karate - Southern Comfort - Gold Lion Campaign
• Wieden + Kennedy Portland - Momsong, Tree, Bowl - Old Spice - Gold Lion Campaign
• Wieden + Kennedy Portland - Possibilities - Nike - Gold Lion
• BBH New York - Perfect Day - Sony PlayStation - Gold Lion
• Durable Goods Los Angeles - First Kiss - Wren - Gold Lion
• Barton F. Graf 9000 New York - Climate Name Change - 350 Action - Gold Lion
• DDB New York - Bucket List - WaterIsLife - Non-Profit - Gold Lion

• Wieden + Kennedy Portland - Meeting, Boardwalk - Old Spice - Silver Lion Campaign
• Deutsch Los Angeles - Feeling Carefree - Volkswagen - Silver Lion
• Deutsch Los Angeles - Guess Who Loves Taco Bell's New Breakfast, Waffle Taco, A.M. Crunchwrap - Taco Bell - Silver Lion Campaign
• Conill Saatchi & Saatchi Torrance/Conill Advertising El Segundo - Robocop - Argentina New Cinema Film Festival - Silver Lion
• TBWA\Media Arts Lab Los Angeles - Misunderstood - Apple - Silver Lion
• Wieden + Kennedy Portland - Tough Love - Procter & Gamble - Silver Lion
• Opperman Weiss New York - The Parting Glass - Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey - Silver Lion
• SS+K New York - Appreciation, What's He In, Your Choice, Faithful, Unconditional Love, Happily Married - BHO Go - Silver Lion Campaign

• CP+B Boulder - Comb Over - Jello - Jello - Bronze Lion
• DDB Chicago - Smile, Cloud, Groomer, Vet - Skittles - Bronze Lion Campaign
• BBDO New York - All Is Right - Foot Locker - Bronze Lion
• Barton F. Graf 9000 New York - Cast - Little Caesars - Bronze Lion
• CP+B Boulder - Captain Obvious, Obvious Eye Contact, Obvious Lies - Hotels.com - Bronze Lion Campaign
• BBH New York - Greatness Awaits - Sony PlayStation - Bronze Lion
• Biscuit Filmworks Los Angeles/Wieden + Kennedy Portland - Covert - Nike Golf - Bronze Lion
• Discovery Channel Silver Spring - Snuffy /Shark Week - Bronze Lion
• MJZ Los Angeles / Grey New York - Soup, Fisherman, Butterflies - DirecTV - Bronze Lion Campaign
• Wieden + Kennedy Portland - Pick Them Back Up - Procter & Gamble - Bronze Lion
• TBWA\Media Arts Lab Los Angeles - Intention - Apple - Bronze Lion
• Droga5 New York - If We Made It - Newcastle Brown Ale - Bronze Lion Campaign
• Deutsch Los Angeles - The Backstory - Guess Who's Coming To Breakfast - Taco Bell - Bronze Lion
• Venables Bell & Partners San Francisco - Look Inside: Jack Andraka, Mick Ebeling, Erik Weihenmayer - Intel - Bronze Lion Campaign

Getting people to watch videos online is difficult. After all, there's no exact science. Or, is there? Electronic dance violinist, Lindsey Stirling, has it figured out and now everyone is taking notice.

Stirling uploaded her first video in 2007 with hopes of getting on The Ellen Degeneres Show. She never made it on, but her video did go viral (by 2007 measures). Next came America's Got Talent, which she thought would be her moment to shine in front of an audience of millions. But, after being eliminated by the judges in the semi-finals, "Nothing changed," said Stirling, 28, in a video interview with Adweek. "There were no management companies, no labels hit me up. Nothing."

"Meeting Devin "Supertramp" Graham was what changed my life," recalled Stirling. She admits she didn't even know what a YouTuber was back then. Now, the violinist is a seasoned veteran with nearly 5 million subscribers and has over 670 million views.

In the Adweek video, Stirling discusses launching her viral videos and how it transformed her musical career. Also, she talks about why brands need to trust talent, working with John Legend, and, most importantly, how to make it on YouTube.

CANNES, France—All this past week, Cannes Lions judges and presenters talked endlessly about how the best ads are those that inspire and even improve the world.

So, why was the festival's most awarded campaign an unapologetic (if tongue-in-cheek) homage to selfishness and greed? One whose centerpiece video has a relatively meager 500,000 views on YouTube—and was, in fact, the only ad jeered by attendees at Saturday's award show here?

The Harvey Nichols holiday campaign "Sorry, I Spent It on Myself" from agency adam&eveDDB took home no less than four Grand Prix, making it the second most awarded campaign in the festival's history. (McCann Melbourne set the record last year with five Grand Prix for "Dumb Ways to Die.")

The campaign centered on the creation of cheap products, such as gravel or rubber bands, sold in Harvey Nichols stores with the label "Sorry, I Spent It on Myself." The video showed customers giving these crap gifts to relatives and loved ones at Christmas while enjoying expensive clothing and handbags for themselves.



It's a good campaign, and may well have deserved the Integrated Grand Prix. It also won the Press Grand Prix, the Promo & Activation Grand Prix and a Film Grand Prix—one of two awarded in that category, along with Volvo Trucks' "Epic Split." And it's that Grand Prix in Film—where it bested some truly powerful and popular pieces of cinematography—that's the real head-scratcher.

At a press conference Saturday afternoon, the Film Lions judges gushed about the spot's "boldness" but struggled to explain how it merited such lofty accolades. I asked them how it could possibly have been a unanimous selection as one of the two best pieces of advertising film in the past year.

"To take greed and make people laugh and smile about it is, I think, incredibly difficult," said jury member Pete Favat, chief creative officer  of Deutsch L.A. "And as a film, it's a perfect piece of film."

I disagree, and it was clear I wasn't alone when, during a screening of the ad at Saturday's big award ceremony, some derisive whistling could be heard.

To illustrate why its Grand Prix selection was so baffling, we've decided to highlight some of the work it beat for the top spot. You might not agree that any one of them was Grand Prix material, but you'd be hard pressed to argue that they're lesser films. 

Below are our picks for seven ads that could have, and should have, ranked higher than Harvey Nichols:

 
• Lacoste: "The Big Leap" by BETC Paris

Somehow this stellar piece of cinematography only won a silver Lion in Film. French journalists told me they felt the video was largely snubbed at Cannes, where it was shortlisted in Film Craft but awarded no Lion in that category.

 
• Wren: "First Kiss" by Durable Goods L.A.

While this viral juggernaut with nearly 85 million views has its share of critics, it's hard to deny it was one of the most compelling, talked-about and just plain interesting videos of the year. Judges clearly liked it quite a bit, awarding it bronze and gold Lions in Film and a bronze in Film Craft.

 
• Coca-Cola: "Parents" by Santo Buenos Aires

Surprising, funny, perfectly crafted. It's just so damn good. Judges liked it enough to give it a gold Lion in Film.

 
• Guinness: "Sapeurs" by AMV BBDO

A real story, told really well. This piece starring a super-stylish group of Congolese gentlemen won a silver Lion in Film and a bronze Lion in Film Craft. 

 
• Lurpak: "Adventure Awaits" by Wieden + Kennedy London

Anyone who's ever made a food ad (or, hell, watched a food ad) will realize what a masterpiece of innovative visuals this is. It won gold in Film Craft.

 
• Skype: "The Born Friends Family Portrait" by Pereira & O'Dell

It'll make you smile. It'll make you cry. It's a touching piece of documentary that's as stylish as it is emotional. But oddly, it didn't win any Lions in Film. (It did win two silver Lions and two bronze Lions in Cyber and a bronze in Branded Content & Entertainment.) Read the story behind the story in our interview with creator PJ Pereira.

 
• Volvo Trucks: "The Epic Split" by Forsman & Bodenfors

The other Grand Prix winner in Film, and deservedly so. Let's revisit it to remind ourselves how different these supposedly equal spots are.

 
What do you think? Did the Film judges overreach, or was the Harvey Nichols spot really that good? And what would you have selected?

When Sobieski's "Truth in Vodka" campaign began seven years ago, it skewered pomposity in the category. Since then, the effort has broadened to call out nonsense in any realm—and amen to that.

Topical targets in recent outdoor ads from lead shop Marty Weiss and Friends range from spy in exile Edward Snowden and social media to the World Cup. Weiss, the man behind memorable TV ads for Guinness and the Nynex Yellow Pages, proves once again that outdoor needn't be a dull medium. You just need to have something witty—and pithy—to say.

This year's ads, which target 25- to 29-year-olds in 17 cities, will continue throughout the summer before taking a break and returning in late fall. The brand's media agency is Horizon Media.

More images below.

One of the great things about Cannes Lions is getting to see amazing creative work that didn't have much of a profile before the festival. Squarely in that category is this fun campaign from Spain that won a gold Lion in Film Craft on Saturday.

The client, Radio Euskadi, is a radio station that plays music and also runs news reports. This campaign merged the two in a way that will bring a smile to your face—and got the crowd at Saturday's award show in the Palais cheering loudly.

President Obama and soccer manager José Mourinho, take it away…

CREDITS
Client: EiTB / Radio Euskadi
Agencies: Basque Agency, EiTB Dimension
Production Company: Debolex
Production Company: Irusoin

This literally out-of-control 60-second road-safety ad from Northern Ireland is causing an international stir for some intense imagery that begins around the 40-second mark.

As these types of ads go, it's not particularly graphic. There's no blood and guts. No flying body parts. No mutilation. Even so, some observers have criticized the country's Department of the Environment, which produced the spot, for going too far, and some news outlets have posted "trigger warnings" about the strong content. It airs on TV only after 9 p.m., when kids, in theory, aren't watching. And that's a bit ironic, because the controversy centers around the horrifying fate of a group of children.



The PSA, by Belfast agency LyleBailie International, opens ominously, with a slowed-down, dirge-y version of Guns 'n Roses "Sweet Child 'O Mine"—more or less tipping us off that the primary-schoolers seen laughing, playing and preparing for a class outing are in for trouble. Even so, it's hard not to jump when the moment of tragedy arrives.

"Since 2000, speeding has killed a classroom of our children," a voiceover says. "You can never control the consequences if you speed."

Criticism has run the gamut. On UTV's coverage of the ad flap, "Unsure in Belfast" questions the strategy: "I'm surprised if these adverts work. People I know won't watch … Those boy racers who drive fast are never going to be impacted." Over at Philly Barstool Sports, "Smitty" suggests the approach trivializes the issue: "It’s not even something out of a Michael Bay film but rather a Michael Bay spoof." Meanwhile, Twitter user @Curljets sums up the anti-PSA sentiment thusly: "I'm thinking of starting a support group for Irish people called 'DOE Road Safety Advert induced trauma.' "

The DOE says it used such brutal imagery because it believes the fear of killing kids will influence at least some folks to stop speeding. "The aim of this campaign is to challenge and dispel, once and for all, through this emotional and uncomfortable message, the false perceptions that many road users have as to the truly horrifying consequences of speeding," says road safety minister Mark Durkan. "People are losing their lives long before they have the chance to fulfill their potential. Families are being destroyed forever."

While I wasn't exactly horrified by this spot, I would rate it among the most audacious, unsettling and memorable PSAs I've seen. And I'm not the only one taking notice. The YouTube posting is approaching 1.7 million views in a week, and the controversy is driving the anti-speeding message into the public conversation far beyond Ireland.