Four Canadian agencies have work in the running for three of Cannes Lions’ most competitive categories.
As it does every year, Cannes Lions announced its first three shortlists for the Glass, Innovation and Titanium Lions ahead of the festival’s start on June 20.
The Glass Lion is meant to recognize “culture shifting creativity” and typically awards work that champions equity and diversity. Only 16 entries were recognized on this year’s list.
Juniper Park\TBWA was nominated for the Canadian Women’s Foundation’s “Signal For Help” campaign, which created a hand signal that would give victims of domestic violence a covert way of letting others know they were in need of help. To be used during everything from doctor’s waiting rooms to Zoom calls, the effort was meant to empower people whose partners control their communications and social media activity, which became all the more difficult to escape during COVID-19 lockdowns.
Zulu Alpha Kilo was nominated for “The Micropedia of Microagressions,” created with a group of organizations including The Black Business and Professional Association, The Canadian Congress on Diversity and Workplace Equity, Pride at Work and Toronto Metropolitan University’s Diversity Institute. The campaign was built around an online database of hundreds of microaggressions people face in their daily lives, aiming to educate people on words and actions they may not even realize are discriminatory and enforce systemic racism. The “Micropedia,” which has grown since it was launched last year thanks to the option for user-submitted microagressions, features volumes on race, gender, sexual orientation, ability, class, age and many more.
Among the 14 entries on the Innovation Lions shortlist is “The Mindsets Paper,” created by FCB Canada for the Canadian Down Syndrome Society. The campaign was aimed at getting participants to sign up for a fitness tracking app and study that aimed to investigate the under-explored connection between exercise and the abilities of those with Down syndrome.
Finally, Rethink’s “Draw Ketchup” was one of 24 shortlisted campaigns for the Titanium Lions, given to big ideas that deliver “game-changing” creativity. The campaign capitalized on the fact that most people, when asked to literally “draw ketchup,” draw the iconic Heinz Ketchup bottle. Drawings of the bottle were used across platforms, including on limited edition labels in stores.
The winners of the Innovation Lions will be among those announced at the June 22 gala, with the Glass and Titanium winners on June 24.
Glass: The Lion For Change
Juniper Park\TBWA
Canadian Women’s Foundation, “Signal For Help”
Zulu Alpha Kilo
Black Business and Professional Association, et. al., “The Micropedia of Microaggressions”
Innovation Lions
FCB Canada
Canadian Down Syndrome Society, “The Mindsets Paper”
Applied Innovation
Titanium Lions
Rethink
Heinz Ketchup (Kraft Heinz Canada), “Draw Ketchup”
