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After 70 years of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, it’s not always easy to find new things to see and talk about. However, heading to Cannes Lions this year—where it is heavily tipped to be one of the big winners—will be a meatball made from mammoth meat.
Created to drive awareness and conversation around climate change-driven extinction by Wunderman Thompson Benelux for Australian food innovation startup Vow Food, the meatball was made from cultured meat including the DNA of the wooly mammoth, which went extinct about 3,600 years ago due to a change in the Earth’s climate.
The DNA was completed using fragments of genetic material from African elephants, which are understood to be the closest relative of the long-dead animal. It was promoted through a five-minute film explaining the initiative and the need for more people to eat cultured meat to avoid extinction.
Its unveiling in April provoked major media interest around the world, and now it’s set to make the journey from Amsterdam to Cannes, where the campaign has been nominated in the Innovation category. But it’s proving to be harder than expected.
Bas Korsten, global chief creative officer at Wunderman Thompson who conceived the idea, explained to Adweek that the first consideration was to take the meatball on a flight as carry-on luggage, but it turns out woolly mammoth meatballs are not in the same category as fruit, veg and sandwiches for acceptable in-cabin foods.
“We weren’t so sure we’d be able to get it through customs, and neither were the airlines, so it was on to Plan B,” said Korsten. That will be driving the meatball to France.
“Our team in Antwerp was already driving to the festival, and as there was a space in their car (and no one likes the middle seat), we decided to strap the meatball in for an epic road trip. It will arrive in Cannes in time for the Innovation Lions Shortlist Presentation, and be driven back home with the rest of the team on Friday. Here’s hoping it will be a good passenger,” he continued.