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What is worthy of a prize at Cannes Lions—the Oscars of the ad industry—always sparks debate in the weeks leading up to the annual festival in the south of France. Creatives and marketers alike want to hold their own sparkling trophy on stage where the industry’s best work is recognized each year.
But it’s not just about garnering praise and bragging rights. The Cannes Lions winners demonstrate both what the industry is capable of and where it could be headed.
As is tradition, ADWEEK asked creative leaders to predict what will take home trophies this year. We share their picks below.
Visit Oslo “Is It Even a City?” | Newslab
Tourism advertising usually follows a familiar formula: sweeping drone shots, smiling locals, dramatic voiceovers telling you to “discover yourself.” So when a city breaks the mold, it really stands out and grabs your attention. Oslo does that in this campaign. This spot gets kudos for its self-awareness, charm, and refreshing lack of cliché. It inspires you to book a trip without feeling like you’ve been sold one. —Corinna Falusi, founder and CCO, Birthday
L’Oréal “The Final Copy of Ilon Specht” | McCann
There are some moments in our industry that forever change it, and this stunning piece of work from McCann captures one of them. To traverse cultural history, cultural revolution, through the experience of a little-known copywriter—and to do it with such intimacy—I almost don’t have words for what this film does for our industry or the power of brands in our lives. I’m already an avid consumer of TV shows and movies, but “The Final Copy of Ilon Specht” is one of those documentaries that will forever kindle my obsession with longform storytelling. —Liz Taylor, global CCO, Ogilvy
Mozilla’s rebrand | JKR
The most resonant brand design work isn’t just about standing out. It’s also about being distinctive. Mozilla’s rebrand could have so easily disappeared into the semiotics of today’s internet—a neutral, adaptive system designed to fade politely into the background. Instead, it does the opposite. It feels more like a rallying cry than a rebrand, bringing the spirit of the open web into a design language and behavior that’s distinctive, characterful, and uncompromising. It’s not here to blend in. It’s here to take a stand. —Augustus Cook, VP and head of brand design, R/GA
Lynx “Catnip” | Lola MullenLowe
In the past, fragrance maker Lynx has addressed mental health and toxic masculinity. Now, it is taking it to the next level, acknowledging how relationships have changed and the importance of cats. Winning over not just your love interest but their feline roommate is a wild and clever leap. This isn’t just a campaign, it’s a collectible piece of product innovation that’s fun, memorable, and strategically smart. It doesn’t try to save the world—it simply moves the brand forward in how we think about attraction today, and it does it by creating a whole product launch that includes social, traditional media, even some quirky OOH. Nothing not to love here. —Javier Campopiano, global CCO, McCann & McCann Worldgroup
2024 Paris Olympic Games Opening Ceremony
Bold. Provocative. Timely. And one of the most beautifully crafted celebrations of culture and creativity we’ve ever seen. Nothing like it came before—and odds are, nothing like it will come after. This one should win it all. —Jason Apaliski, CCO, Pereira O’Dell
Goldfish “Chilean Sea Bass” | Mischief @ No Fixed Address
With a flip of the packaging name, Mischief was able to reframe the classic snack and give you a laugh instantly. My refined middle-aged palate was suddenly thinking of a nice chablis pairing and an evening in watching The Taste of Things, or maybe Waterworld. The childhood snack of choice just became OK to adult with in public. It’s simple, it’s funny, and it got the grown up world to turn its head. —Matthew Woodhams-Roberts, CCO, Special US
Apple “Flock” | TBWA\Media Arts Lab
Apple turned an ordinary CCTV camera into a drone-like flying bird. The execution? Absolutely Hollywood-level sci-fi. But the idea? A brilliantly simple privacy twist. This one is definitely going to win big. —Thasorn Boonyanate, CCO, BBDO Bangkok
Penny “Price Packs” | Serviceplan
Annoyingly simple, massively scaled, and even more relevant given the tariff wars. Proof that smart design is good business. Jealous of this one. —Gabriel Schmitt, global CCO, Grey
KFC “Prize on the Bone” | DM9
Brazilians have a nostalgic love for promotions hidden on ice cream sticks. To make KFC’s promo unforgettable, they did what no other brand would dare—they hid the prize on the bone! How crazy is that? One of the best promotional campaigns I’ve seen this year. —Thasorn Boonyanate, CCO, BBDO Bangkok
Uber “Football is for Food” | Special US
This is a rare example of non-sports brand advertising that really gets sports fans. They took a simple, funny premise that’s tight to the brand, and didn’t shy away from getting hyper-specific in the name of broad appeal. At Mischief, we love the quote “in the particular is the universal,” from James Joyce. I love that they leaned into this approach, and wrote the crap out of it. —Kevin Mulroy, ECD and partner, Mischief @ No Fixed Address
The New Yorker “Everything, Covered” | Le Truc & Roof Studio
A masterclass of curation and animation to transform the most iconic covers in the history of publishing into a tool for storytelling. Set to the sound of an iconic New York track, George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” it’s a beautiful and powerful story that is a huge contender for Film Craft. —Danilo Boer, global creative partner, FCB
Novartis “Your Attention, Please” | Merkley+Partners
The Super Bowl was proof that health marketing can be great marketing (no asterisk needed). I particularly loved “Your Attention, Please” from Novartis—big, purposeful, and entertaining as hell. Pharma juries have traditionally struggled to award campaigns with real scale that live up to non-profit work. I hope this is the year things change, and that Cannes 2025 sets a new benchmark for what pharma is capable of doing when it dreams big. —Eric Weisberg, global CCO, Havas Health Network
AXA “Three Words” | Publicis Conseil
Some work gives you chills. For me, it often happens when I see a campaign that creates a sense of safety in people’s lives where they haven’t previously found it. AXA changing its home insurance policies to include domestic violence as cases were on the rise? Chills. What’s so important about this work is it didn’t just call attention to an issue, or create a superficial response—it also went so far as to account for emergency housing relocation, psychological support, and legal support, making it more possible for those affected by domestic violence to actually leave a violent environment because they’re resourced to make a change. —Liz Taylor, global CCO, Ogilvy
Persil x Arsenal “Every Stain Should be Part of the Game” | MullenLowe
Six in 10 girls leave sport because they’re scared of period stains. We celebrate mud, sweat, even blood from a busted lip. But blood from a period? Still taboo. So Persil stood up and said stains shouldn’t be scrubbed away. It partnered with Arsenal FC to call out the double standard. Because if stains are good, then they’re all good. Especially the kind that keeps girls in the game. —Josh Green, CCO, House 337
Apple Vision Pro “Submerged”
I’m a sucker for cinematic work, and this one did not disappoint. The Apple Vision Pro ad is a masterclass in brand storytelling—it captures the magic of possibility, turning complex technology into an emotional, human experience. —Margaret Johnson, CCO, Goodby Silverstein & Partners
