Direct Lions: Cannes 2023 Decoded

Adam&eveDDB has been awarded two Gold Lions in the Direct category at Cannes Lions 2023 for its Marmite campaign 'Baby Scan'.

The Direct Lions are said to celebrate targeted and response-driven creativity.

Marmite and adam&eveDDB's tongue-in-cheek campaign - launched in April this year - saw expectant parents partake in a fictional scan to find out whether their babies would be lovers or haters of the yeast extract spread. The work followed on from a scientific study which revealed that babies could respond to different flavours while still in the womb.

Ogilvy was also awarded a Bronze Lion in the Direct category for its 'Horniculture Society' work for relationships charity Relate.

The campaign saw the agency design a series of vegetable-themed condom packet designs and place them in British garden centres. Based on research that found that STIs among the over 65s are at an all-time high, the playful initiative hoped to help break down taboos and get people talking about later life sex.

Taking home the Grand Prix in the Direct category was FCB Toronto and its 'Runner 321' campaign for Adidas.

In celebration of World Down's Syndrome Day last year, the sports brand collaborated with the Canada-based agency to celebrate the story of Adidas’ first sponsored athlete with Down's Syndrome, Chris Nikic. Not only this, but the campaign coined the idea to reserve the number '321' for Down's Syndrome athletes. The genetic disorder is caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21, hence 321.

Gold Direct Lions were also distributed to six more agencies, with Grey Argentina and Saatchi & Saatchi's German division winning two Golds each for their respective Lalcec 'The Postponed Day' and Mondelez 'Oreo Cheat Cookies' campaigns. The other Gold winning campaigns included: Publicis Conseil's 'Solar Impulse - Pret A Voter' campaign for Solar Impulse; VMLY&R Commerce's 'Oreocodes' campaign for Oreo; McCann Poland's 'Where to Settle' campaign for Mastercard and Havas Paris' 'Anne De Gaulle' campaign for Fondation Anne De Gaulle.

Overall, 60 Lions were awarded in the Direct category: one Grand Prix, 10 Golds, 19 Silvers and 30 Bronzes.