Burger King’s “Whopper Detour” has again led FCB New York to the promised land of a Cannes Lions Grand Prix--this one in the Mobile competition. This evening’s (6/20) honor came on the heels of yesterday’s Direct Lions Grand Prix win.
“Whopper Detour” of course first leads users to being within 600 feet of one of the 14,000 McDonald’s locations in the U.S. Once in that proximity to the Golden Arches, an ingenious app yields for consumers a deal for a 1-cent Whopper.
Mobile Lions (Communication Track), which celebrate device-driven creativity, received 866 entries. Ari Weiss, chief creative officer, DDB Worldwide, North America chaired the jury, which awarded 42 Lions: 1 Grand Prix, 10 Gold, 11 Silver and 20 Bronze Lions.
The FCB family also scored an Innovation Lions Grand Prix--this one bestowed upon Area 23, an FCB Health network company in NY, for Wavio’s “See Sound” which built a smart home device powered with machine learning to identify sounds around the home and notify the user through a mobile app.
Commenting on the Grand Prix, Innovations Lions jury president Bill Yom, global creative director, Cheil Worldwide, said: “This was one of the most courageous and simplest solutions we’ve seen which solves a problem for the deaf and hard of hearing community that has not been addressed enough before. What’s also important is that it utilizes machine learning technology in a genius creative way - basically ‘hacking’ YouTube to train a sound database with limited resources - to essentially, save lives.”
A total 187 entries were submitted to the Innovation Lions category (Innovation Track) honoring groundbreaking innovation, technology and problem solving. The jury awarded 7 Lions: 1 Grand Prix, 1 Gold, 2 Silver and 3 Bronze Lions.
Meanwhile m:united//McCann New York’s breakthrough "Changing the Game" work for Microsoft’s Xbox Adaptive controller garnered the Brand Experience & Activation Lions Grand Prix. The adaptive controller levels the playing field, enabling gamers with disabilities to play as easily as their fully able-bodied counterparts. Some 33 million gamers have disabilities--now they have accessible technology that makes gaming far more user-friendly. Among the components in the campaign was a Super Bowl commercial which introduced us to a number of charming kids whose disabilities don’t keep them from excelling in the gaming field.
There were 2,532 entries in the Brand Experience & Activation Lions category (Experience Track) celebrating creative, comprehensive brand building through the next level use of experience design, activation, immersive, retail and 360° customer engagement. A total of 70 Lions were awarded by the jury, presided over by Jaime Mandelbaum, chief creative officer, VMLY&R Europe: 1 Grand Prix, 9 Gold, 23 Silver and 37 Bronze Lions.
“Black Supermarket”
European food retailer Carrefour’s “Black Supermarket” from agency Marcel Paris earned the Creative Effectiveness Lions Grand Prix. The Carrefour campaign defied an absurd agrochemical lobby-supported law in much of Europe which denied consumer access to some 97 percent of fruits and vegetables produced, because farmers could only grow and sell what was registered in the Official Catalogue of Authorized Species. In response, Carrefour established “Black Supermarket” sections within their stores which sold illegal fruits and vegetables from “outlaw” farmers, striking a blow for health and biodiversity. The Marcel-conceived and developed campaign positively changed the way the Carrefour brand was perceived and led to a new EU-wide law legalizing the banned produce.
In the Creative Effectiveness Lions (Impact Track) celebrating the measurable impact of creativity, 227 entries were received. The jury, chaired by Ogilvy worldwide CEO John Seifert, awarded 12 Lions: 1 Grand Prix, 3 Gold, 3 Silver, 5 Bronze Lions.
RBK Communication, Stockholm won the Creative eCommerce Lions Grand Prix for “Do Black--The Carbon Limit Credit Card” for Doconomy, the world’s first credit card which helps users track their climate impact and meet the target of reducing consumption related CO2 to protect the planet.
Creative eCommerce jury president Daniel Bonner, global chief creative officer, Wunderman, commented: “The Grand Prix we chose is truly innovative and ambitious. A signal and future of responsible consumerism that is doable in the present. A unique idea that no doubt will be copied and leveraged by businesses all over the world--and full of creativity for sustainability, in terms of the platform, the production and design, the enterprise and the potential impact for everyone.”
Of the 300 entries submitted to the Creative eCommerce Lions (Experience Track), celebrating creative, commercial ecommerce, payment solutions and innovation, the jury selected 9 winners: 1 Grand Prix, 1 Gold, 2 Silver and 5 Bronze Lions.
Finally 360i, New York won the Radio and Audio Lions Grand Prix for HBO’s “Westworld: The Maze,” an immersive Alexa game.
Presiding over the jury, Jose Miguel Sokoloff, global president, Creative Council, and chief creative officer UK, MullenLowe London, said: “We are defining the category of radio and audio, not only moving it forward, but also finding its north star, isolating an idea that is rooted in audio.”
The Radio and Audio Lions competition (Communications Track), celebrating creativity for the airwaves and audio content, received 996 entries. 34 Lions were awarded: 1 Grand Prix, 4 Gold, 9 Silver and 20 Bronze.
Additionally, the Entertainment Person of the Year award was also presented this evening to Lorne Michaels, Emmy Award-winning producer perhaps best known for his long tenure on Saturday Night Live.