Dove Wins Media Grand Prix at Cannes After Turning Its Back on TikTok

CANNES, France—Dove, an unwavering critic of unrealistic beauty standards, just took home a Media Grand Prix after holding TikTok accountable for its impact on young minds.

The creative, which features a series of women turning away from the camera, kicked off in March under the hashtag #TurnYourBack. The brand then tapped influencers to draw continued attention to the impact of TikTok’s Bold Glamour filter, which has faced criticism for looking dangerously realistic. Created by Ogilvy and David, the campaign emphasizes that 80% of girls are using filters by age 13 and 54% of girls prefer the way they look when their photos are edited.

Christian Juhl, Media Lions jury president and global CEO of GroupM, said that despite industry efforts to “separate message and media,” the work carried an impact deserving of praise on multiple fronts. 

“It’s important to see what’s happening on social media right now, how teens view themselves and the potential dangers of these platforms,” he said. “We looked at categories in media and it almost ticked off every single one.”

Media gold winners

• Dove | “#TurnYourBack” by Ogilvy London and David Madrid (U.K., Spain).
• Partners Life | “The Last Performance” by Special Auckland (New Zealand).
• Tubi | “Interace Interruption” by Mischief @ No Fixed Address (U.S.).
• Michelob Ultra | “Dreamcaster” by FCB New York (U.S.).
• Eletromidia | “Guarded Bus Stop” by AlmapBBDO (Brazil).
• Decathlon | “Ability Signs” by Rethink (Canada).
• Pedidos Ya | “World Cup Delivery” by GUT Buenos Aires (Argentina).
• Oreo | “Oreo Cheat Cookies” by Saatchi & Saatchi Dusseldorf (Germany).
• Blockbuster | “Blockbuster: Until the Bitter End” by Atlantic (U.S.).
• Skinny | “Phone It In” by PHD (New Zealand).

PR Lions

DoorDash took the top prize in the PR category for “Self Love Bouquet,” a campaign by Gut Los Angeles that subverted trite messages such as, “DoorDash wants you to be your own Valentine” with a conversation around masturbation taboos.

The brand disrupted the narrative around self love by sending women The Rose, the most popular sex toy of the last five decades, amid a bouquet of 11 real roses. The product sold out in major cities across the country and saw 794 million earned impressions.

Jo-ann Robertson, PR Lions jury president and CEO of global markets at Ketchum, called DoorDash’s approach to empowerment and self-love both “simple” and “brave.”

PR gold winners

• Nike | “Home” by Wieden+Kennedy London (U.K.)
• Zikaron Baslon | “Fighting to Remember” by McCann (Israel)
• Lalcec | “The Postponed Day” by Grey (Argentina)
• Skittles | “Apologize the Rainbow” by DDB Chicago (U.S.)
• Mastercard | “Where to Settle” by McCann (Poland)
• Adidas | “Runner 321” by FCB Toronto (Canada)

Social and Influencer Lions

Samsung’s “Flipvertising,” by CHEP Network in Sydney, won the Social & Influencer Grand Prix.

Instead of figuring out how to target an increasingly ad-averse generation, Samsung found a way to get consumers to look for them instead. The campaign, which promotes the brand’s Galaxy Z Flip 4, recruited influencers to send social media users on a scavenger hunt for targeted ads, some of which came with a free phone. To encounter the winning films, users had to search for three specific terms on Google.

Social and Influencer gold winners

• Bank of Montreal | “NXT LVL” by FCB Toronto (Canada)
• Pedidos Ya | “World Cup Delivery” by GUT Buenos Aires (Argentina)
• Oreo | “Oreo Cheat Cookies” by Saatchi & Saatchi (Germany) 
• Prime Video | “WHO – A Thread Movie” by Herezie (France)
• Dove | “The Cost of Beauty” by Ogilvy (U.K. and Canada)
• Flash | “Cashback for Your Jersey Back” by FCB Brasil (Brazil)
• Jung Helden | “#Optink” by McCann (France)
• Jane/Finch Community Centre | “Bill it to Bezos” by Angry Butterfly (Canada)

Follow all of Adweek’s Cannes Lions coverage  here.