Titanium Triumphs Part 3
Part 3 of advertising campaign selections that exemplify Dan Wieden’s Titanium Cannes Charter, of honouring achievements so groundbreaking, that they pave the way to new advertising industry paths that are difficult to place into a conventional category.
The featured examples are from Poland, The United Kingdom, The United States of America, and Germany.
13. Twój Weekend, The Last Ever Issue
Advertising Agency: VMLY&R, Warsaw, Poland
Cannes Festival Titanium 2019
For 27 years ‘Twój Weekend’ (Your Weekend) was one of Poland longest running and most read adult magazines that reduced women to sex objects.
In December 2018, when the ailing publication was up for sale, VMLY&R teamed up with Polish news portal Gazeta.pl, MasterCard, and BNP Paribas to purchase the magazine.
What happened next was groundbreaking. The new owners shut the publication down releasing one last issue on International Woman’s Day that took inspiration from the content of the original magazine.
Only this time, it featured conversation-sparking narratives of diverse and progressive femininity, correcting much of the misinformation “Twój Weekend” spread over more than two decades, with all profits going to an NGO that provides equality education.
Jaime Robinson, chief creative officer at Joan Creative and Cannes Jury Judge, remarked:
“The Last Issue Ever turns a simple notion on its head and uses a platform already in place to undermine that same platform. The idea is transformative. It takes an object of degradation and turns it into something beautiful and says goodbye to it forever”.
14. Essity FemCare, Viva La Vulva
Advertising Agency: AMV BBDO, London, UK
Cannes Festival Titanium 2019
Directed by Kim Gehrig, the integrated campaign for the Swedish Essity FemCare brand known as ‘Libresse’ in the Nordic countries, and ‘Bodyform’ in the United Kingdom, combines live action and animation in memorable and amusing vaginal metaphors.
The objective of Essity FemCare’s brand communication campaign is to break down those taboos, insecurities and stereotypes that women are subjected to when it comes to their genitals, and celebrate the vulva in all its beautiful forms.
The Essity Company believes that society has projected a myth about the perfect vulva for far too long. The feelings of insecurity and social awkwardness this has caused have prevented women from having a positive relationship with their bodies.
Publicly lauded by women globally on social media and numerous published articles, the multi award-winning ‘Viva La Vulva’ campaign features a resonant soundtrack of Camille Yarbrough’s “Take Yo’ Praise”.
15. Nike, Dream Crazy
Advertising Agency: Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Oregon, USA
Cannes Festival Titanium 2019
The commercial for Nike’s ‘Dream Crazy’ advertising campaign, directed by Lance Acord, features athletes of all ages who successfully fulfilled their dreams that were thought to be crazy.
The topical inclusion of narrator Colin Kaepernick, the former National Football League player who bravely put his own career at risk by controversially kneeling during the playing of the national anthem at NFL games in protest to racism and police brutality, adds resonating meaning to the commercial’s message:
“Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything.”
Nike’s Titanium accolade is in recognition of the major impact of ‘Dream Crazy’ on societies that exists outside traditional advertising and design categories.
16. Microsoft Xbox, Changing The Game
Advertising Agency: McCann, New York, USA
Cannes Festival Titanium 2019
The launch of Microsoft’s Xbox Adaptive Controller began with a two-minute commercial by filmmaker and director Bryan Buckley that was aired during the 2019 American Super Bowl Football Championships
The innovative brand initiative, that leveled the playing field for 33 million gamers with disabilities, became the talk of the nation and far beyond with coverage on many international news channels.
17. Reporters Without Borders, The Uncensored Playlist
Advertising Agency: DDB, Berlin, Germany
Cannes Festival Titanium 2019
For World Day Against Cyber Censorship, Advertising Agency DDB and Reporters Without Borders Germany exploited a digital loophole to evade censorship. While press freedom is not available in the world’s most oppressed societies, global music streaming sites are.
Hence the ‘Uncensored Playlist’ innovation involving five acclaimed independent journalists from five countries, suffering from strict government censorship, teaming up with Musical Director Lucas Mayer to turn 10 articles that had previously been censored, into 10 uncensored pop songs.
Their songs were then uploaded onto freely available music streaming sites, allowing their stories in their pop song disguises, to be slipped back into the countries where they had once been forbidden.
A remarkable communication breakthrough of inspired creativity that saw reporters, for the very first time, becoming music artists to bring the truth to those that had once been denied it.
The commercial directed by filmmaker Iris Fuzzaro, serves as a lesson to oppressive governments all over the world that without media freedom, there is no freedom, and no matter how hard they try, they will never be able to silence the voices of truth in this border-less cyber age.
18. Burger King, Whopper Detour
Advertising Agency: FCB, New York, USA
Cannes Festival Platinum 2019
The ‘Whopper Detour’, involved creating a Burger King app that would unlock a 1-cent Whopper promotion only when people were physically within 600 feet of a McDonald’s.
The groundbreaking imitative was highly lauded for the effective implementation it’s technologically complicated brand innovation.