Fresh fast food brand Chipotle and CAA Marketing added another Grand Prix to their collection of industry honors at the 2012 Cannes International Festival of Creativity, for the animated film "Back to the Start." Tonight the brand also nabbed the first Grand Prix in the newly launched Branded Entertainment Category.
Chipotle and CAA Add a Film Grand Prix to Collection of Top Honors

WHY IT WON: The jury had high respect for the film on a number of levels. According to juror Geoff Edwards, Partner/ECD at San Francisco based Dojo, looked for something that could contribute to the legacy of former Grand Prix winners. "If you think about the past ten years and the things that have been iconic, we were looking for something that could sit right up there, rightfully so, and that was this piece," he said. "Work can't just to be great to be a Grand Prix, it has to be exceptional. So it's the core idea, meets great art direction, great direction-there's a single camera move from left to right, Willie Nelson's track, a remake of a beautiful Coldplay track that became its own piece. All that lined up, and at the very end. . .it left you with a gorgeous, sustainable message, and we felt very, very good about it."
The message of sustainability demonstrated a commitment from the brand that the jurors themselves wanted to take on. "In our job we have big power, the power to change people's behaviors and even influence the world for good," said jury member Fernando Bellotti, Regional Chief Creative Officer/President at Leo Burneet, Argentina. " One of the things I like about this Grand Prix is that it gives something back to the consumer. Advertising is usually very ephemeral, so if we can send the message, sponsored by a brand that makes you think about having a better world, it becomes timeless. It represents what we're here for. " That thinking is reminiscent of the 2005 Grand Prix Film winner, Honda's "Grrr," another animated piece that supported a message of sustainability.
THE JURY: Jury President Tham Khai Meng, Worldwide Chief Creative Officer/President at Ogilvy & Mather presided over 22 jurors, from 20 countries. The U.S. had the most jury representation, with three, Mr. Edwards, Michael Canning, an Australian now ECD/EVP at Leo Burnett, New York and Robert Wong, ECD at Google Creative Lab.
CONTROVERSY OR CLEAR WINNER: Among the jury, Chipotle was the clear winner. According to juror Mick Mahoney, exec creative director at EuroRSCG in the U.K., "By the time it came to judging the grand prix there were three or four possibilities that we discussed. But when it actually came to the final voting for the Grand Prix, it wasn't even close. Surprising really because I think the ones we were discussing as options were incredibly strong bits of work. It was probably the only film that left everybody silent every time we played it, the commitment form the rest of the jury to that film was really strong. It was so clearly the one everybody loved." The other contenders, he said, were "Three Little Pigs" for the Guardian, out of BBH London, Canal+ "Bear," out of BETC EuroRSCG Paris,, which earned the Film Craft Grand Prix, and Grey New York's DirecTV Campaign, that earlier in the week President Clinton had cited as his favorite.