The first group of shortlists at the Cannes International Advertising Festival were delivered by the Promo, Direct and PR juries yesterday, and Canada picked up three nods from the Promo judges, out of Canada’s 30 entries in this category.

The Promo jury put through 143 finalists in all, two of which were for Frito Lay Canada’s ‘Doritos Guru’ program, entered by Proximity Canada, Toronto. The contest, which asked chip fans to name and advertise a mystery chip flavour for the chance to win 1% of the product’s revenues, entailed a large online social voting scene, and earned shortlist spots in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods category and in Best Use of Digital Media.

Canada’s other great white hope is Zig’s ‘Sound Cannon’ project for Corus’ Scream TV, which tapped the technology to target audio messaging to specific individuals in crowds for a Philip K. Dick effect. The judges gave the spookily innovative concept a shortlist berth in the Publications and Media category. Canada had 30 entries in this category.

Of the 37 PR finalists, none of the six Canadian entries were on the shortlist for this new category, which had a field of 431 submissions from 48 countries in its inaugural year. Also, none of the 37 Canadian Direct entries made it through to the 180 programs shortlisted.

Canada fared better today, when the Media, Outdoor and Radio shortlists were released this morning.

Canada’s best shortlist showing thus far is in Outdoor, with 14 nominations out of the 144 Canadian entries, in a field that now has 512 hopefuls left standing. We performed well in Alcoholic Drinks, as Leo Burnett Toronto’s ‘Share Our Billboard’ campaign for James Ready Beer – which has already won a gold Clio, a silver One Show Pencil, two Andy awards and the Obie Best of Show – got three nods, one each for three different billboard executions. In the POP realm, BBDO Toronto’s work for Starbucks Canada’s Earth Day event got three Small Scale nods for ‘Give Back,’ ‘Greener’ and ‘Plant,’ and on the Large Scale side of this category, BBDO also received three nominations for its satellite-mapping executions – ‘Desert Map,’ ‘Jungle Map’ and ‘Snow Map’ – for Jeep, for Chrysler Jeep Dodge Retailers of Ontario.

Montreal-based LG2 received two nominations for the holographic ‘Boy’ and ‘Girl’ executions as part of its ‘The Game Influence’ campaign for the Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services in the Public Health and Safety category.

JWT Toronto’s ‘Wrecking Ball’ execution for Tylenol received one nomination in the Pharmacy category, while Rethink’s mobile phone breathalyzer hoax for Keys Please and Scream TV’s ‘Sound Cannon’ got a nod each for Ambient.

Seven of 59 Canadian radio entries to Cannes made it onto the 167-spot-strong Radio shortlist, four of those being Leo Burnett work for Procter & Gamble’s Gain brand in the Household category – ‘Pool,’ ‘Spanish,’ ‘Crumple’ and ‘Morning’ – produced by Eggplant Productions. Over in the cars and automobile services realm, Subaru Canada took two nods for spots created by DDB Canada and produced by Pirate Radio & Television: ‘Vibration,’ touting the Subaru Boxer Engine, and ‘Road Joy,’ celebrating the Legacy. In the Pharma category, Johnson & Johnson’s ‘Say Yeah’ advert for Tylenol by JWT Toronto, produced by Grayson Matthews, also made the shortlist.

Three of Canada’s 51 Media entries made it through to the shortlist, and are now competing against a field of 211 contenders. In contention are: Zig’s ‘Sound Cannon’ for Corus, this time in the Best Use of Special Events and Stunt/Live Advertising category; Saatchi & Saatchi Toronto’s ‘Play-By-Play’ campaign for AM 640 in the Best Use of Outdoor category; and Cossette Media’s ‘Huge Yellow Darts’ exercise for Yellow Pages in the Commercial Public Services category.

Meanwhile, the Press category – where Canada had 127 campaigns entered – two Canadian projects made it onto the shortlist of 290 entries. Juniper Park’s ‘Solar Newspaper’ for Frito Lay’s SunChips brand made it through to the next round, as did Cossette Toronto’s ‘Burrito’ execution for McDonald’s.

Winners for Promo, PR and Direct will be revealed later today, while Radio, Outdoor and Media will be announced tomorrow. Press will be announced Wednesday, along with Cyber and Design.