Cannes Lions 2024: India secures three metals on Day 1 so far

On Day One of Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2024, Indian campaigns bagged three metals - one silver and two bronze. Ogilvy’s billboard for Taj Mahal Tea won the silver in the outdoor category while their heart-wrenching adfilm about childhood cancer for St Jude Childcare Centres won a bronze in the health and wellness category. The other bronze was won by McCann Worldgroup’s Fit My Feet slippers for Buckaroo Footwear.  These wins do not account for the gold winners, the results for which will come through later in the day. 

Advertising professionals from across the world gathered in the French resort city for the festival this week. The 71st edition of the gala kicked off on Monday with awards in the pharma, health and wellness, print and publishing, outdoor, audio and radio categories being announced. 

The winning campaigns from India included:  

Outdoor 

• Ogilvy’s Taj Mahal Megh Santoor campaign for Brooke Bond won the silver in the Special Build subcategory 

This campaign involved the installation of a billboard outside Vijaywada Railway station that gained the Guinness World Record title for the ‘Largest Environmentally Interactive billboard’. The board itself consisted of brass bars that were designed like the strings of Indian musical instrument santoor, which played Raag Malhar (the tune of the rains in Indian classical music) when it rained.

Health and wellness

• McCann Worldgroup’s 'Fit My Feet Slippers' for Buckaroo in Brand Experience & Activation subcategory 

This campaign involved the local cobblers, called mochis, who are found in every street nook in India. With the help of these expert craftsmen, Fit My Feet provided custom designed footwear for people afflicted with club feet. The beneficiaries came from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

• Ogilvy’s The Impossible Choice for St Jude Childcare Centres in the Film: Cinema, TV & Digital Film Content subcategory 

The adfilm showcases the dilemma of Warden Pillai, who hates his job. It is then revealed that he is supposed to choose the family of one of the two children suffering from cancer whom his organisation can help. The children’s health and family situations are compared like cold, hard facts. While his choice is not revealed in the ad, it ends with informing the viewers about how several children with cancer are forced to give up on their treatment due to poverty. 

No Indian campaigns made it in the pharma, Print and publishing and Audio and radio categories.