BBDO’s “Cat” turned into another Gold Lion today.
The quirky YouTube ad for Skittles that stars a man who is half cat was part of a three-spot campaign victory for the agency and Wrigley in the Film competition. “Cat” won a Cyber Gold earlier in the week.
“Hitchhiker” and “Cage Cop” were the other two spots awarded the Lion (five videos were shortlisted).
The “interactive” ads ask viewers to place a finger against the screen with scenes playing out around the finger. In “Cat” for example, the cat-man licks at the finger.
The Skittles “Taste the rainbow” tag line has been around awhile now, but BBDO’s interpretation of Touch the Rainbow broke through, said Canadian judge Christina Yu, executive creative director at Red Urban. “For them to bring it to the next level really resonated with the jury.
“The film was just as good as if it were not interactive,” Yu told Marketing. “But the interactivity made it that much more brilliant… And what a simple idea as well.”
The Film Lions were handed out in the final awards show on the final night of the 58th International Festival of Creativity, along with the Film Craft, Titanium & Integrated, and new Creative Effectiveness Lions.
The Skittles Gold wasn’t the only victory for BBDO in the Film competition. The agency also won a Bronze Film Lion for its “Change” spot for Fedex, which uses a multi-talented boss to illustrate how the company is “amazing at more than just one thing.” Taxi won a Bronze for its latest Pfizer work that shows the implications for friends when men abandon them to enjoy the benefits of Viagra – the “Golf” execution won as a single (two other spots were shortlisted). And John St.’s popular Pink Ponies self-promotion video also won a Bronze Lion.
Like most jury presidents, Tony Granger of Y&R told reporters at the morning press conference that it is extraordinarily difficult to win a Lion in Cannes, however he brought numbers to reinforce his point: just 1.72% of the 3,310 Film entries won Bronze, .91% won Silver and .42% win Gold.
“Every single Gold here is brilliant. Absolutely brilliant,” he said.
The Grand Prix went to Nike’s “Write the Future” from Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam. The nearly three-minute long video was released just before the 2010 World Cup and features a number of major soccer stars like Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Ronaldinho envisioning failures and resolving to triumph on the football field.
Granger said Puma and Droga5’s “After Hours Athlete,” which showed young people playing pool, darts, bowling and other late-night games, was also a strong contender for the Grand Prix. (It won a Grand Prix in the Film Craft competition). “There was a lot of really good debate about the two,” he said. Eventually he asked the jury to watch both spots again and vote with their hearts.
“I think one [Write the Future] just connected more emotionally,” he said. “You feel really good after watching this commercial. I think that’s what did it.”
