CANNES, France—Ogilvy & Mather Johannesburg took home the Grand Prix in the Radio Lions contest at the Cannes Lions festival here tonight for a KFC campaign that humorously reassured men that they are still manly even if they occasionally do unmanly things.
The campaign advertised the chain's "Man Meal." Listen to the three spots here:
Jury president Tom Eymundson, CEO and director at Pirate Group, said the jury considered three campaigns for the Grand Prix. The other two were a Dove campaign from Ogilvy London and the "Football Memories" spot for football magazine Libero by Lola MullenLowe in Madrid. After much debate, they settled on KFC.
"It's very strong," said jury president Tom Eymundson, CEO and director at Pirate Group, Canada." That's the beauty of radio. It's naked. You can't hide behind anything. You have to touch somebody out of the gate and hold them there and make them want to come back for more. These three spots, we believe, do that."
He added: "They're for a major brand, which is nice to see, not a small boutique shop that gets away with some of the braver ideas. So, I applaud both the agency and the client for having the balls to actually step up and point out the struggles that men have determining if they're still men while doing some not-so-manly things."
U.S. agencies won six Lions in total, and five of them went to Alma DDB Miami—for Walmart/Play-Doh (two silvers), Clorox (silver for "Big Bang," bronze for "Gravity") and Tobacco Free Florida (bronze campaign). Havas Worldwide New York won silver for the Dos Equis spot "Adios Amigo."
Listen to all those spots here: