CANNES, France—It pays to be selfish.
London agency adam&eveDDB was celebrating that grinch-like truism here tonight as it reeled in the Grand Prix in the Promo & Activation Lions contest for "Sorry, I Spent It on Myself," the amusing holiday campaign for retailer Harvey Nichols that advertised cheap gifts you could buy for friends and family so you could spend more on yourself.
The campaign deftly melded advertising, social media and in-store promotions by offering nicely packaged but ultimately jokey gifts like paperclips, a water-resistant sink plug, genuine wooden toothpicks, plastic doorstops, a bag of gravel and Christmas lunch in a tin.
"At this time of year it can be all too easy to get caught up in the spirit of giving," client marketing director Julia Bowe said when the campaign broke. "Our new 'Sorry, I Spent It On Myself' gift collection will provide our customers with low-cost gifting options for others that will allow them to spoil themselves that little bit more this Christmas."
Among U.S. agencies, Leo Burnett in Chicago fared best with two Lions (a silver and a bronze) for Esurance's #EsuranceSave30 sweepstakes on Twitter. For that campaign, the company bought the first ad slot after the Super Bowl, and gave away the difference in price—it went for $1.5 million less than an in-game spot—to one lucky viewer who tweeted the #EsuranceSave30. Among other crazy statistics, the brand got more than 200,000 entries within the first minute of the commercial airing.
The full list of U.S. Promo winners is here:
• Leo Burnett, Chicago - Esurance #Esurancesave30 - Silver Lion and Bronze Lion
• BBDO, New York - Bud Light "Whatever Happens" stunt - Silver Lion
• SapientNitro, Miami - Fiat Italian Masterpiece - Silver Lion
• VML, Kansas City, and Ketchum, Atlanta - Wendy's Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger Love Songs - Silver Lion
• Vitro, San Diego - Asics Ryan Hall Treadmill - Bronze Lion