US Creatives Reveal What Might Win at Cannes Lions 2018

Tide, It’s a Tide Ad

Pete Favat: Tide’s Super Bowl ad is American advertising at its best. It’s so blatant that it’s an ad with their matter-of-fact attitude. It is what it is – an ad for Tide. The viewer is forced to think that every time they see clean clothes in an ad they could be watching a Tide ad. It makes the brand synonymous with clean clothes.

Shawn Lacy: This whole campaign is so smart and so funny. On one of the world’s biggest stages for advertisers, this campaign shone with originality and clever humour.

Procter & Gamble, The Talk

Shawn Lacy: This ad conveys a powerful message and was beautifully crafted. Showing our universal humanity is one of the most important things we can do as advertisers, and this ad goes above and beyond in that regard.

Nike, Breaking2

Pete Favat: The concept of Breaking2 (trailer only above, full documentary available here) pushes humanity forward, and has Nike leaning into their Just Do It mantra. To try to break a world record live and tell everyone to tune in is exciting. The fact they didn’t hit below the two-hour mark shows the ability to embrace failure. It’s the idea of reaching the next level, creating hype around a very simple thing – running – making it relevant again.

Bacardi, Dance Floor

Shawn Lacy: This only came out a few weeks ago so it probably missed the boat for this year’s Cannes, but it’s such fun I had to include it. The production design is fabulous, too.

Apple HomePod, Welcome Home

Shawn Lacy: So much has already been said about this ad but it’s incredible. Spike Jonze is insanely talented. I love the heroine and how we feel we are on a journey with her.

Taco Bell, Test Kitchen

Pete Favat: Taco Bell is known for giving its fans unique experiences through innovative food creations. This crazy idea took it to a new level with uber-fans vying for a seat in Taco Bell’s Test Kitchen; getting a reservation was as difficult as getting into a three Michelin-star ranked restaurant. Audacious. Reservations sold out in 32 seconds. Taco Bell knows their fan base so well, and fanning the flames of curiosity and delivering exclusivity in the most non-exclusive category made this experience beyond entertaining.