Last Wednesday, Cinema du Parc showed a screening of Cannes Lions, a part of the prestigious annual film festival in Cannes, which honours the world’s most creative and effective ads. The competition’s 57th anniversary presented eight awards to Canadian agencies, two of them from Quebec.
This two-hour experience—screening a little under 100 clips—was thought-provoking to say the least. Accustomed to the monotony of generic TV commercials, people outside the industry usually regard advertisements as purely functional, not artistic. But watching ads like ‘’Arctic Sun” for Tropicana orange juice triggers an uplifting emotional response: in the Canadian Arctic, an artificial sun rises in the dark morning sky over a bewildered crowd, followed by the “brighter mornings make for brighter days” slogan. Effects such as slow motion filming combined with sentimental piano music worked to create a vibrant atmosphere that resonated with the audience.
The most powerful clips, however, were far from pleasant in content. These often tackled difficult subject matter, like the Canadian Cancer Society’s three-minute montage of touching monologues from cancer survivors. The ads touched up politics several times, the most memorable being an Italian Rolling Stone clip denouncing their government’s sleazy sex and drugs scandals. The video’s narrative voice calls for rock ‘n’ roll behaviour to return to the hands of musicians, ordering us to “reclaim our alcoholic coma and the stench of passion.” Words like these are shocking and memorable in this context because we are never explicitly told by the media to pursue such actions. Combined with the beautifully crafted camerawork, viewers couldn’t help but be hypnotized. This clip proves that political views and thoughts can be more inspiring when reshaped by a creative frame of mind.
Similar to the Rolling Stone ad, environmental and health issues were raised in original ways, especially the winning entries by thefuntheory.com, an initiative of Volkswagen. The very successful ‘’Piano Stairs” clip had over 18 million hits on YouTube before the festival; the video shows how remodelling public stairways into piano keys that play notes when stepped on can actually deter people from using the escalator. Other ingenious experiments advertise the concept of “Fun Theory,” which posits the best way to get people to do things is to make them fun, as a way to reach out and change our behaviours for the better; doing so creatively provides dull messages like “be healthy and exercise” with enjoyment value.
Whether a viewer seeks thought-provoking messages or purely audiovisual enjoyment, the Cannes Lions Festival offers a wide variety for everyone. It offers creative interpretations of the world we live in today, and is food for the contemporary mind.
The Cannes Lions Festival is now playing at Cinema du Parc
