On day two of the Cannes Lions, Canada took 43 spots across the radio, outdoor, media and press shortlists.
The year’s best radio spots were deemed to be 178 in total, as per the Cannes Radio jury, led by its president, Taxi topper Paul Lavoie. Of those, 19 are Canadian, our best odds yet for the medal round.
Three Gain spots and two Era detergent spots for P&G out of Leo Burnett made it through to the final round, all produced by Eggplant Productions.
Cossette West took four shortlist slots for ‘Tweet,’ ‘Lunch,’ ‘Try’ and ‘Name’ for its McMini sandwich launch for McDonald’s, produced by GGRP Vancouver.
DDB Toronto got nods for ‘Horse’ and ‘Sprint’ spots for Subaru WRX by Pirate Radio, Toronto. And ‘Carl,’ its Hometown Heroes contest spot for Earth Day Canada, produced by Toronto’s Song & Patter, also made the list.
Quebec’s LG2 took three finalist slots for its Canac-Marquis Hardware spots ‘Light bulbs,’ ‘Ceramic’ and ‘BBQ,’ produced by Boogie Studio, also Montreal.
DDB Vancouver made the shortlist with ‘Extensive’ and ‘Curable’ for Pacific Blue Cross, helmed by Vancouver’s Wave Sound Productions.
‘When the Spotlight Hits,’ a spot promoting the Memory Walk for Federation of Quebec Alzheimer Societies out of Marketel/McCann Erickson Montreal, produced by Sonart, also made it through.
Juniper Park’s ‘Bears’ spot for the Chicgao Tribune also finalled.
The outdoor jury put 419 entries into the finals, 12 of which are Canadian contenders.
Leo Burnett got three shortlisted slots for its Cannes-friendly James Ready Billboard ‘Coupon’ spots. BBDO also got three nods for its Smart work, ‘One Way’ and ‘Alcina Street,’ and for ‘Bike Lock’ in the Ambient: Special Build category.
TBWA Vancouver made the shortlist with ‘Boat’ and ‘Pool,’ produced for the BC Lottery Corp. LG2’s ‘Fence’ and ‘Window Shutters’ work for Canac both also finalled.
Agency59’s ‘Light Switch’ OOH for the City of Toronto’s Livegreen program made the shortlist. And in the ambient stunts and live advertising category, Rethink’s ‘Escape’ for Funktion Personal Training also made it to the medal round.
Canada has six media entries contending for medals this year, out of a shortlist of 199. The media jury took a shine to Starcom’s TD Visa Infinite card work (creative was handled by Draft FCB), shortlisting ‘Breaking Down Barriers’ in the Best Use of Newspapers category, and Starcom’s ‘Going to Great Lengths’ effort for P&G’s CoverGirl brand is also a finalist.
Starcom CEO Lauren Richards, who is in Cannes, believes covering new ground earned the Cover Girl nod. ‘Turning subway turnstiles into giant mascara wands was no small feat, I tell you. Nadia and her team went to great efforts to make it happen. And Saatchi was great to work with.’ She adds that the TD shortlisted work was actually an idea from the pitch stage ‘and it’s so rare that a pitch idea lives to see the day.’
Cossette Media’s always innovative Nike work also impressed the jury. ‘Train Till You Red Line’ for Nike Sparq training equipment made the shortlist, and Cossette also got the nod for its ‘Canada1. History0.’ program for Niketraining.ca, in the best use of Social Media Marketing category.
BBDO Proximity also has a Social Media Marketing nod for its successful Frito-Lay’s Viralocity program for Doritos. And Zig’s ‘World’s Longest Signature‘ Family Day effort for Corus is a finalist in the Best Use of Sponsorship category.
The press jury liked less of what they saw from Canada, putting only three ads through to the shortlist of 395 finalists.
However, what they did like, they liked a lot. Leo Burnett’s ‘Artist,’ ‘Rocker,’ and ‘Cowboy’ work for P&G’s Cheer Dark brand scored six slots on the Press shortlist, they’re finalists in both the photography and art direction categories.
Check this space at 3:30 p.m. for Promo, PR and Direct award show news, to see who won Canada’s first medals.
