Cannes Lions 2025 Gold Winner Analysis Part 5 (PR, Social & Creator)

Cannes Lions 2025 Gold Winner Analysis Part 5 (PR, Social & Creator)

1. Nordea "The Parental Leave Mortgage" – Award & Campaign Analysis

Video Link: Video of Campaign

Award Won

• Cannes Lions 2025: Gold Lion, PR Category (Public Relations) – Recognized for real, tangible consumer benefits and innovative action, not just communication.
• The One Show 2025: Merit, Public Relations.
• Gerety Awards 2025: Shortlist, Work for Good Cut – Alternative.

Campaign Overview

Background & Insight

Despite Finland’s progressive parental leave laws (160 days for each parent), 88% of leave is still taken by women, and one in five Finnish fathers don’t use their leave at all. The main barrier is financial: parental leave isn’t fully paid, and the higher earner—often the father—stays at work to cover bills, reinforcing traditional gender roles and limiting fathers’ involvement in early caregiving.

Creative Idea

Nordea, with NORD DDB, launched "The Parental Leave Mortgage": a pioneering mortgage product allowing parents to pause mortgage payments in full during parental leave—no fees, no costs, no catch. This removed a major financial barrier to sharing leave more equally, empowering both parents to participate in caregiving and supporting gender equality.

Execution

• Launched in every Nordea branch across Finland.
• Supported by a strategic PR campaign and a feature in Finland’s largest newspaper to spark national conversation about parental leave, gender roles, and family financial health.
• Positioned as a symbol of gender equality and financial empowerment, not just a banking product.

Results

• 10,000 families enquired in the first week.
• 6,000+ families applied within four months, saving an average of €460/month.
• Earned media reached 8.5 million people (1.5x Finland’s population) in the first week.

Why It Worked (Key Points)

1. Real-World Impact:
   The campaign solved a systemic social problem with a tangible product, not just a message—removing financial barriers to equal parenting.
2. PR-Led Innovation:
   The launch was more than a product—it was a PR idea that drove national conversation and positioned Nordea as a progressive, customer-first bank.
3. Scalable & Replicable:
   The idea demonstrated how financial services can drive societal change, inspiring the industry to move from marketing to meaningful action.

What We Can Learn

1. Action Over Words:
   The most powerful PR comes from organizational behavior and innovation, not just communication—brands can drive change by creating new solutions.
2. Solve for Systemic Barriers:
   Addressing root causes (like financial obstacles to parental leave) creates lasting impact and relevance.
3. Purpose Drives Perception:
   Initiatives that align with societal progress and customer well-being build trust, positive brand perception, and earned media at scale

2.Nutter Butter "You Good?" / The Nutterverse – Cannes Lions 2025 Gold Winner

What Happened

• Brand: Nutter Butter (Mondelez International)
• Agency: Dentsu Creative New York
• Campaign: "You Good?" / The Nutterverse
• Award: Cannes Lions 2025 – Two Gold Lions1
• Case Study Video: YouTube – Nutter Butter, You Good? (Case Study)

Campaign Overview

Nutter Butter, a 55-year-old peanut butter cookie brand, had faded into obscurity—no advertising since the 1970s, little cultural relevance, and low shelf presence. With no big budget or celebrity endorsements, the challenge was to reignite love for the brand among Gen Z and younger Millennials.

Creative Idea:
Instead of trying to fit into modern trends, Dentsu Creative embraced Nutter Butter’s "nutty" origins and built the "Nutterverse"—a surreal, absurdist, analog-horror-inspired universe that lived entirely on TikTok. This world featured bizarre storytelling, evolving characters, and deep lore, all centered on the cookie. The Nutterverse was interactive: fan theories, comments, and conspiracy threads were woven into the ongoing narrative, making fans co-creators. TikTok’s native features—duets, stitches, and replies—were used to fuel viral, participatory engagement.

Why It Worked

1. Leaning Into Absurdity & Fandom:
   By fully embracing weirdness and internet humor, the campaign stood out in a crowded feed and created a cult-like following, especially among Gen Z.
2. Community-Driven Content:
   Fans were invited to shape the Nutterverse, with their comments and theories influencing new videos and characters—turning passive viewers into active participants.
3. Product Always Center Stage:
   Despite the surreal storytelling, the cookie remained front and center in every video, ensuring strong brand linkage and craving.

What We Can Learn

1. Turn Weakness Into Strength:
   A lack of recent relevance or rigid brand guidelines can be a blank slate for bold reinvention and creativity.
2. Build Worlds, Not Just Ads:
   Creating an immersive, ever-evolving universe keeps audiences coming back and drives deeper engagement than one-off spots.
3. Let Fans In:
   Co-creating with your audience—especially on platforms built for interaction—fuels organic growth and authentic brand love.

3. Progresso "Soup Drops" – Cannes Lions 2025 Gold & Silver Winner

What Happened

• Brand: Progresso (General Mills)
• Campaign: Soup Drops
• Agencies: Edelman (lead), Knechtel Inc., Yaniv Consulting, The Social Lights, Promotion Management Center
• Awards:
  • Gold Lion: PR Category (Cannes Lions 2025)
  • Silver Lion: Brand Experience & Activation (Cannes Lions 2025)1
• Video Link: YouTube – Progresso "Soup Drops" Case Study2

Campaign Overview

Progresso, known for its classic chicken noodle soup, disrupted cold and flu season by launching "Soup Drops"—the world’s first savory, hard candy you can suck on, infused with the flavor of Progresso Chicken Noodle Soup. Available only during National Soup Month (January), these limited-edition lozenges were positioned as a playful, comforting alternative to traditional cough drops.

The campaign moved Progresso from the soup aisle into the cough drop conversation, generating massive buzz. The Soup Drops sold out in minutes, sparked over two weeks of social chatter, and were featured everywhere from morning shows to late-night TV. The quirky product innovation and bold media strategy drove a spike in brand awareness, positive association, and sales during peak cold and flu season.

Why It Worked

1. Unexpected Product Innovation:
   By launching "soup you can suck on," Progresso broke category conventions and created a newsworthy, shareable moment during a highly relevant season.
2. Cultural Relevance & Humor:
   The campaign tapped into the universal comfort of chicken noodle soup and used playful, Willy Wonka-esque storytelling to delight consumers and media alike.
3. Scarcity and Buzz:
   Limited availability and rapid sell-out fueled FOMO, social conversation, and PR coverage, turning a novelty product into a cultural talking point.

What We Can Learn

1. Bold Innovation Drives Conversation:
   Even established brands can break through by reimagining their product in surprising, culturally resonant ways.
2. Seasonal & Contextual Relevance:
   Launching during cold and flu season ensured the product was both timely and top-of-mind.
3. Integrated PR & Social Strategy:
   Coordinated earned media, influencer, and social efforts can turn a limited product drop into a brand-defining moment.

4.Corona "Sun Reserve" – Cannes Lions 2025 Outdoor Innovation

What Happened

Video Link: Case_Study video of Corona

To celebrate its 100th anniversary and reinforce its identity as the beer of the sun, Corona (with Grey Brazil) launched the "Sun Reserve" campaign. Facing the threat of real estate development casting shadows over iconic Brazilian beaches, Corona took unprecedented action: instead of traditional advertising, the brand leveraged Brazilian real estate law to purchase the airspace above a beachfront. This move ensured that no tall buildings could be constructed to block sunlight, effectively preserving the natural sun for beachgoers.

The initiative began at Pajuçara Beach, one of Brazil’s most shadowed and famous beaches. The local tourism secretary officially supported the Sun Reserve, and the campaign quickly sparked national and global conversation about protecting sunlight on beaches. Within days, neighboring cities responded, with one mayor suspending new high-rise construction on their beachfront. By the end of 2025, Corona will have implemented two Sun Reserves, and the brand has published a playbook for others to replicate the idea worldwide.

Why It Worked

1. Transformative Use of Outdoor Media:
   Corona turned the abstract concept of "owning the sun" into a tangible, legal action—protecting sunlight as a brand asset and a public good, not just a marketing message12.
2. Cultural and Environmental Relevance:
   The campaign addressed a real, growing problem—urban development threatening natural experiences—and positioned Corona as an authentic champion of outdoor living1.
3. Global Scalability and Impact:
   The Sun Reserve model is replicable and has already inspired policy change and public demand for sunlight protection in other regions, making the campaign both innovative and actionable12.

What We Can Learn

1. Brands Can Drive Policy and Social Change:
   By leveraging legal frameworks and public interest, brands can become powerful advocates for environmental and cultural preservation.
2. Protect What You Stand For:
   Corona didn’t just talk about the sun—it took real steps to protect it, reinforcing brand purpose and credibility.
3. Innovation Doesn’t Require Big Budgets:
   Clever, strategic thinking—like purchasing airspace—can create lasting impact and global conversation, even in the competitive outdoor category.

5.O2 "Daisy vs. Scammers" – VCCP Cannes Lions 2025 Multi-Winner

Campaign Overview

O2’s "Daisy vs. Scammers," created by VCCP London, is a breakthrough anti-fraud campaign that deploys an AI-powered virtual granny, Daisy, to waste scammers’ time and protect real people from phone fraud. Daisy, inspired by a real team member’s grandmother, is an AI chatbot with a lifelike voice, trained on real scammer calls and designed to keep fraudsters talking for as long as possible—sometimes over 40 minutes—using humor, confusion, and endless anecdotes about her cat Fluffy and her garden.

To attract scammers, Daisy’s phone number was seeded into scammy online forms and databases. Every conversation was recorded, and the most entertaining calls were edited into short films and social content, quickly going viral. The campaign also partnered with scam-baiting expert Jim Browning and featured influencer Amy Hart to reach younger audiences.

Awards at Cannes Lions 2025

• Gold Lion: PR – Use of Technology
• Silver Lions: PR – Corporate Purpose, Creative Strategy – Breakthrough on a Budget, Digital Craft – Innovative Use of Technology
• Bronze Lion: Direct – New Realities & Emerging Tech

Why It Worked

1. AI for Good: Daisy weaponized empathy and technology, turning the tables on scammers and protecting vulnerable people in a way that was both effective and entertaining.
2. Cultural Virality: The campaign’s humor, relatability, and shareable content made it a viral sensation, with over 2,000 PR articles and 1.7 billion earned media impressions.
3. Behavioral Impact: Reports of scam messages via O2’s 7726 service rose significantly, and customer perception of O2’s anti-fraud efforts jumped 10 points, showing real-world change.

What We Can Learn

1. Tech-Driven Storytelling: Emerging technology can be harnessed for public good while delivering memorable, creative brand experiences.
2. Authenticity and Relatability: A character rooted in real life, with genuine quirks and warmth, can humanize even the most technical solutions.
3. Integrated, Low-Budget Success: With just £20,000 in paid media, the campaign’s impact was driven by creativity, earned media, and organic social sharing.

Watch the Case Study

YouTube – O2: Daisy vs Scammers (case study)

Social and Creator

1.U.S. Navy "Subreddit Hunt" – VML

Awards

• Cannes Lions 2025:
  • Gold Lion – Creative B2B: Use of Digital Platforms
  • Silver Lion – Direct: Use of Social Platforms
  • Bronze Lion – Media: Use of Digital Channels
• The One Show 2025:
  • Gold Pencil – Experiential & Immersive: Use of Gaming
  • Silver Pencil – Direct: Social Media
  • Merit – Creative Use of Data
• Official Case Study Video:
  YouTube – U.S. Navy: Subreddit Hunt (Case Study)

Campaign Overview

The U.S. Navy, facing recruitment challenges for its elite submariner roles, partnered with VML to launch "Subreddit Hunt"—a gamified, puzzle-based recruitment campaign on Reddit. Rather than using traditional ads, the Navy created a five-week scavenger hunt, challenging users to crack codes, decipher clues (including corrupted coordinates, audio files, Mandarin cryptics, and nuclear equations), and locate five hidden Navy submarines across various subreddits.

The campaign targeted Gen Z’s love for puzzles and digital communities, transforming Reddit into a virtual proving ground for logic, teamwork, and problem-solving—the very skills needed for submarine service. Players who solved the missions were contacted by Navy recruiters, and the campaign delivered a year’s worth of highly qualified recruits in just five weeks, with 100% meeting the strict criteria for submariners.

Why It Worked

1. Gamified Recruitment:
   The campaign met Gen Z where they are—on Reddit and in puzzle-solving communities—making the Navy relevant and approachable to a new audience.
2. Skill-Based Filtering:
   Only the most persistent and capable problem-solvers completed the hunt, ensuring recruits were already a strong fit for submarine service.
3. Digital-First, Community-Driven:
   By leveraging Reddit’s culture and collaborative spirit, the campaign sparked organic teamwork, new subreddit formations, and industry-wide discussion on gamification in recruitment.

What We Can Learn

1. Meet Audiences in Their Element:
   Recruitment and brand campaigns are most effective when they leverage the platforms, behaviors, and interests of their target demographic.
2. Gamification Drives Engagement:
   Turning a challenge into a game not only attracts attention but also surfaces the best talent for specialized roles.
3. Community Collaboration Amplifies Reach:
   Encouraging teamwork and community problem-solving can turn a niche campaign into a viral, industry-shaping moment

2.McDonald’s France "Olympic Curry" – Cannes Lions 2025 Gold Winner

1. What Happened

Brand: McDonald’s France
Agency: DDB Paris
Campaign: "Olympic Curry"
During the Paris 2024 Olympics, after the French men’s basketball team lost to Team USA—led by Stephen Curry—McDonald’s France posted a witty Instagram image of their Classic Curry sauce with the caption: “For obvious reasons, we are considering removing this sauce. For 4 years minimum.” This real-time, tongue-in-cheek response to Curry’s dominance quickly went viral, delighting both French fans and global basketball audiences. The post was created in under 30 minutes, with zero media spend, and prompted a response from Curry himself, generating massive earned media and cultural conversation.

2. Why It Worked

• Cultural Relevance & Timing: The campaign hijacked a trending Olympic moment and a global sports star’s name, connecting the product to the national mood in real time.
• Simplicity & Humor: A minimalist, witty approach made the message instantly shareable and relatable, turning a sporting loss into a national in-joke.
• Earned Media Power: With no paid media, the post achieved 2.3 billion impressions, 500,000+ engagements, and hundreds of press articles, outshining even official Olympic sponsors.

3. What We Can Learn

• Act Fast and Stay Relevant: Real-time, culturally attuned responses can outperform even the biggest sponsorships.
• Embrace Humor and Humanity: Playful, self-aware brand voices build affinity and turn setbacks into moments of connection.
• Leverage Simplicity: A single, well-timed post can have more impact than a complex campaign when it taps into the zeitgeist.

Awards

• Cannes Lions 2025:
  • Gold Lion – Social & Creator category
  • Bronze Lion – Social & Creator category
  • Shortlisted – Six additional categories
• The One Show 2025:
  • Gold Pencil – Social Post / Single
• Eurobest 2024:
  • Social & Influencer Grand Prix

Video Link

Watch the "Olympic Curry" case study on YouTube

3.Cadbury 5 Star "Erase Valentine's Day" – Cannes Lions 2025 Gold Winner

1. What Happened

Brand: Cadbury 5 Star
Agency: Ogilvy India
Campaign: "Erase Valentine’s Day"
Cadbury 5 Star, known for its "Do Nothing" philosophy, launched a bold counter-culture campaign targeting young Indians who view Valentine’s Day as commercialized and inauthentic. Instead of encouraging celebration, the campaign set out to skip the day entirely. Partnering with legendary scientist Nambi Narayanan, the team created a "time travel vessel" that, by crossing the International Date Line at the right moment, would literally erase February 14th for those onboard. The event was live-streamed and amplified with social media activations, memes, and influencer engagement, turning a quirky idea into a nationwide anti-Valentine’s movement.

Video Link:
Watch the case film on YouTube

2. Why It Worked

• Cultural & Youth Relevance: The campaign tapped into youth skepticism about Valentine’s Day, using humor and reverse psychology to make "doing nothing" cool and rebellious.
• Media Innovation: By staging a real-time, science-backed "time travel" stunt and leveraging live streams and social media, the campaign created a participatory spectacle that blurred the line between reality and satire.
• Ownable Brand Positioning: Rather than fighting for attention in a crowded Valentine’s market, Cadbury 5 Star owned the anti-Valentine’s space, reinforcing its "Do Nothing" ethos in a fresh, headline-grabbing way.

3. What We Can Learn

• Embrace Counter-Culture: Sometimes, the best way to stand out is to go against the grain—especially when it aligns with authentic consumer sentiment.
• Turn Insight into Action: Deep understanding of youth psychology and cultural trends can transform a marketing challenge into a creative opportunity.
• Spectacle + Simplicity: Big, audacious ideas (like skipping a holiday) paired with simple, relatable messaging can create cultural moments that drive both engagement and brand love.

Awards

• Cannes Lions 2025:
  • Gold Lion – Social & Creator Lions category