On the final day of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Libresse’s #WombPainstories came away as the big winner, nabbing what’s arguably the most covered award of the week—the Titanium Grand Prix. 

The campaign, created out of AMV BBDO, included an emotionally turbulent, mixed-media film directed by Chelsea Pictures' Nisha Ganatra that combined live action and animated scenes to illustrate the various experiences women have around their wombs, from the joys of childbirth to the pleasure of orgasms and the pain of endemetriosis. There was also a "Pain Dictionary" and virtual museum that set out to more clearly articulate what women suffering from endemetriosis feel.

The campaign for the Essity-owned brand earlier in the week also nabbed Grand Prix in Film Craft as well as the Grand Prix for Good in Health and today, also earned one of the Film Grand Prix today.

During a Cannes Lions debrief session, jury president Susan Credle, global chief creative officer of FCB said that the Essity campaign rose to the top for a number of reasons. Besides the audacity of the campaign itself, the jury admired how the piece represented what can come out of a strong agency and client partnership. 

Prior to this campaign, together AMV BBDO and Essity had produced other bold and celebrated ideas such as “Blood Normal” and "Viva La Vulva." Credle noted, “This has continued for three amazing years. You can tell there’s a relationship there" and to honor a successful partnership was "important for the future of creativity.”

Credle says that what lifted the idea above the others was one innovative aspect of the campaign, the “Pain Dictionary” that aimed to help women and doctors more quickly diagnose endometriosis by creating both a “verbal and visual” language for the condition with the help of women’s own descriptions. “The key was that the work was going to teach women about their bodies and teach doctors about women’s bodies,” Credle explained. “For us, that was exceptional—we felt we could see medical books being rewritten.”

In the competition for Titanium Lions, creatives are required to make a live presentation to the jury and Credle noted that the pitch from the AMV BBDO team also helped push the idea to the top. “The presentation of this idea was so personal, so impassioned, so caring, so angry at times, we emotionally got caught up,” she said. “So, when you do your presentations, [make sure] it’s not just the work, it’s how you feel about what you did.”

The Titanium Category is unique from the others in the festival in that it only bestows two types of awards: the Grand Prix and Titanium. It’s meant to honor breakthrough ideas that point to a new direction for the industry and is considered the most prestigious prize to win.

Along with the Grand Prix winner, the Titanium jury awarded six Titanium Lions:

Diesel "Enjoy Before Returning"
Publicis Italy

Diesel’s “Enjoy Before Returning,” created out of Publicis Italy, put a twist on the idea of “wardrobing,” when consumers purchase an item just to wear it once and then return it.  The ad, directed by Something But Different, follows young people on a night out wearing Diesel clothing, tags unabashedly displayed. The brand said the point was not to promote or criticize the behavior, a bold stance given that “wardrobing” seems to encourage disposable attitudes around fashion, a major contributor to climate change. 

Burger King "Stevenage Challenge"
David Madrid and David Miami

Burger King’s Stevenage challenge was another big winner of the week and earned three Grand Prix in Social and Influencer, Direct and Brand Experience. The fast feeder became the main sponsor of a low-ranking English soccer team, Stevenage F.C., which allowed it to appear on the team’s jersey in the video game FIFA 2020, leading to a whole host of initiatives with gamers. The effort generated $2.5 million in earned media, according to Burger King.

Michelob Ultra “Contract for Change”
FCB 

Michelob Ultra’s “Contract for Change” campaign from FCB centered on support for organic farming. Promoting the brand’s Pure Gold line extension, which is made from organic grains, it included a 60-second Super Bowl ad that introduced the “6 for 6-pack” initiative, in which the company promised a portion of proceeds to transform farmland into certified organic land. The campaign also earned one of the two Grand Prix awarded in the PR category. 

“You Love Me” from Beats by Dre
Agency: Translation

Last year, many brands came out to support the Black Lives Matter movement, but Beats by Dre stepped out with a fresh, provocative stance in this film from Translation. This film posed a bold question to people who love and appropriate Black culture: “Do you love Black people?” The spot, which also earned Idea of the Year at our Creativity Awards earlier this year, pulled together an all-star lineup of production talents: Prettybird’s Melina Matsoukas directed, Solange Knowles created the score, Lena Waithe penned the script, while Tobe Nwigwe performed it.
 

Corona “Match of Ages”
Agency: We Believers

The pandemic had put live sporting events around the world on hold, so AB Inbev brand Corona and agency We Believers came up with this innovative way to keep soccer fans in Mexico entertained. They created a “Match of Ages” between the country’s two biggest football teams,  Águilas del América and Chivas Guadalajara, by pulling together key moments from their soccer games over the decades. What resulted was a 90-minute match that ran on the country’s biggest broadcaster Televisa. The brand saw a 54% increase in sales the week of the game. 

City of Chicago “Boards of Change"
Agency: FCB Chicago

FCB Chicago created this campaign for the City of Chicago that created eye-catching, art-covered voting booths to draw people in. But there was a deeper story to those structures—the booths were created from murals that had covered storefronts during recent social justice protests.