Leo Burnett won a Silver in the Press competition for its “Chair” execution for Raising the Roof, a national charity that tackles homelessness. The ad shows an old chair at the curb in front of a house and asks readers why they look at old chairs as reclamation projects while refusing to make eye contact with homeless youth.
Leo Burnett was the only Canadian agency on the shortlist released Monday, appearing three times for Procter and Gamble and twice for Raising The Roof. That makes a pair of Silvers for Leo Burnett after winning one in the Promo & Activation show Monday night for James Ready.
Overall, there were 5,415 entries in the Press competition: 518 made the shortlist and 99 won a medal. Just nine Golds were handed out.
“Anyone winning a shortlist, a Bronze or Silver should be very proud,” said jury president Tony Granger, global chief creative officer for Young & Rubicam. But Golds constituted just a tiny fraction of all entries, he said. “It’s very prestigious.”
The Grand Prix went to JWT Shanghai for “Heaven and Hell” for Samsonite. The same ad won praise and a Gold Lion in the Outdoor competition Tuesday. The ad shows the heavenly trip of a airplane traveller, while his suitcase goes through hell in the cargo hold of the plane below.
“This is an exceptionally beautiful piece of work. Not only was the idea terrific, it was executed beautifully,” said Granger. A lot of print work is formulaic with a strong visual and a tiny logo in the corner. “This didn’t behave that way,” he said. Because it was so “magnificently crafted,” it stood out from the start and Granger said choosing it as the Grand Prix was the easiest part of judging. “It took 10 minutes,” he said.
It was also the first Grand Prix won by China at Cannes, continuing a theme started earlier in the week when Romania won its first Grand Prix, in the Promo and Activation competition, followed by South Korea’s first Grand Prix last night, in Media. Great work used to come from the U.S. and the U.K., and then Brazil, Argentina and France, said Granger. “Now you see great work from everywhere.”
Granger was asked if the rush to digital advertising has had a negative impact on print advertising. “I haven’t seen a drop in the quality at all,” he said. He added, however, that the challenges of creating breakthrough print work are greater than ever. “People spend less and less time with print,” he said. “If the ads are engaging, people will spend time with it. If they’re not, they won’t.”
