Adidas' “Runner 321” campaign by FCB Toronto secured the Direct Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on Wednesday.

The work honors athletes with Down syndrome by asking marathons to hold bib #321 for them. The number refers to Trisomy 21, which is another name for the condition. 

“Runner 321” represents the continuation of Adidas’ “Impossible Is Nothing” slogan, which has been part of the brand for more than a decade.

Since the campaign rolled out on World Down Syndrome Day in March of last year, many major marathons—even those sponsored by Adidas’s competitors, such as the New York City Marathon’s New Balance—have started holding #321 for neurodivergent runners.

Direct Lions “celebrate targeted and response-driven creativity,” with entries demonstrating “how insights and/or data were used as part of the strategy to engage specific target audience groups and develop customer relationships, inspiring action and producing measurable results,” according to the Cannes Lions website.

“Authenticity is so key, and this brand has consistently turned up to make sure that the underrepresented and those who have to fight for equality can lean on them, can see them as a partner,” said Chaka Sobhani, global chief creative officer at Leo Burnett and president of the Direct Lions jury at Cannes. “They’re doing the right thing for their audience. That’s the thing about direct—it’s all about audience. And what they’ve done with competitor brands on a global scale is insane.”

Gold winners

Seven other campaigns won Direct Gold Lions. They were:

• “Oreo Cheat Cookies” for Oreo by SAATCHI & SAATCHI, Dusseldorf
• “Baby Scan” for Marmite by adam&eveDDB, London
• “Prêt à Voter” for Solar Impulse by Publicis Conseil, Paris
• “The Postponed Day” for LALCEC by Grey Argentina, Buenos Aires 
• “Oreocodes” for Oreo by VMLY&R Commerce, New York
• “Where to Settle” for MasterCard by McCann Poland, Warsaw
• “Anne De Gaulle” for Foundation de Anne De Gaulle by Havas Paris