6 revolutionary Indian campaigns that swept Cannes Lions

Cannes is the Mecca of advertising and every Lion won is no less than the eternal light shining upon your work. Winning at Cannes Lions is much more than a matter of prestige; a Lion stands for the story an agency wove, a cause that a brand stood for, and sheer joy of engraving India in the history of marketing and advertising.

A father celebrating his kid’s survival till 5 years of age; a movement as small as touching the pickle, and a plea to share the load - initiatives that changed lives and  the industry forever! Social Samosa takes a look at campaigns that were pure magic and swept of Cannes Lions with grace and grandeur.

6 Pack Band

It is funny how gender equality often constricts to men and women; the broader concept, the gender that is often subjected to most atrocities conveniently slips the mind. Extending recognition with support to the transgender sect, Y – Films in association with Brooke Bond Red Label launched 6 Pack Band, a group of 6 Transgenders who created great albums with industry professionals.

The launch video has 1, 968, 503 views on YouTube till date, winning hearts with a Grand Prix at Cannes Lions 2016.

Make Love Not Scars - Beauty Tips by Reshma

A plight much worse than death is that of an acid attack victim! Ogilvy Mumbai launched Beauty Tips by Reshma with their Make Love Not Scars campaign. The initiative featured vlogs from real acid attack victims, with each video concluding with a appeal to sign a petition against sale of acid.

The sould stirring videos offered a gleam of home with with the spirit of these acid attack victims, but the ache and fear it left you with was daunting enough to make viewers sign the petition. The campaign won a Glass Lions in 2016.

Touch the Pickle

From not touching the pickle to not wearing perfume, from the downright ridiculous to outrageous – taboos around mensurating women dominate the Indian culture. As an uprising against such senseless and unfair practices, Whisper from the P & G stable, launched #TouchThePickle. A campaign that urged women and the society to break free of this passive aggressive evil.

#TouchThePickle received around 2 million views on YouTube and got over 3 million women to participate. The campaign touched the jury and won a Grand Prix in 2015.

Share the Load

Indian culture suffers subtle patriarchy. Laundry, cooking, cleaning – responsibilities often tied with women. Ariel, again from the P & G umbrella, decided to take it on themselves to get the society to rise above this stigma. An ongoing campaign,  Share the Load, featured various videos, each hitting directly at your conscience. The campaign achieved a Bronze Film Lion in 2016.

Make Every Yard Count

Nike took India’s love for cricket to an all new level with their crowdsourced Make Every Yard Count campaign. The initiative called out to ther fans to share their best cricket moments which were then strung together and released as a part of their new campaign.

If this video won’t give you the feels, nothing will. Make Every Yard Count earned a Bronze Film Lion in 2014.

Message Barter

Ogilvy & Mather created a yet another heart-stealer with Message Barter for Akanksha, an NGO that runs schools for underpreveileged kids. The campaign ran an experiment, where the kids from the NGO heartily marketed Hrithik Roshan’s Krrish 3, without the knowledge of the actor.

The video of the activation was then shared with Roshan with a plea to do a ‘Message Barter’ – where he would promote the NGO’s requirement of teachers as a barter to the kid’s promoting his movie. The campaign won a Bronze Lion in 2014.

A list of some of best campaigns from India. An ode to best talent, and a mark of respect to best storytelling. These Cannes winners always make us proud.

Taking this a step further, Social Samosa in association with Blogmint is all set to launch Year Boook of Social Media Campaigns – an initiative to list the best efforts of the Indian social media industry in one book. We’re all set to unveil the book, stay tuned in to find out when and how.