Cannes Lions 2026: All the Grand Prix Winners
When reflecting on the differences between the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity and the Cannes Film Festival on his first visit to the former, actor Alan Cumming was concise: “It feels like people are a lot more crazy here.”
While Cumming was of course speaking in jest, it’s hard to disagree – the combination of a European heatwave (meaning that the first sentence most people said to each other at Cannes Lions was ‘isn’t it hot?’ while fanning themselves furiously) plus an ever expanding event and seemingly endless talks programmes did lend itself to mild insanity from about day three onwards.
Cumming was speaking at an NBC presentation which formed part of the official Cannes Lions content programme, which also featured an eclectic mix of celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, Professor Brian Cox and Stella McCartney.
Those looking for inspiration without having to spend the money on a official pass also had plenty of options in the fringe events, which once again seemed larger than ever, expanding across the beach and port, where brands from Google to Amazon, Pinterest to Canva colonised the town for the week, with increasingly inventive and appealing installations.
Favourite restaurants and cafés were taken over by agencies this year too while many brands and businesses set up ‘content houses’ in the villas just outside of town. The Cannes Lions creep gets ever greater. But some things arrived with charm – such as Dept’s elegant Souvenir Shop, which offered high-end, Cannes-inspired merch.
The combination of a European heatwave plus an ever expanding event did lend itself to mild insanity from about day three onwards
If you’re here for trends, conversation was focused on the hot topics of 2026 so far: fandoms, creators, brands infiltrating culture, and of course lashings and lashings of AI were on the menu. Of the latter, the conversation is becoming more nuanced and less polarised though announcement of the investment of Google Deepmind into indie film company A24 did spark considerable backlash, and reflected the divisive feelings many creatives still hold towards AI.
Google Deepmind’s Demis Hassabis joined A24 partner Scott Belsky on stage in the Palais where Belsky claimed that the $75 million dollar investment in A24 would allow for more “creative risk-taking”, though this seems unlikely to dampen the considerable ire of fans to the news.
AI has also prompted a widespread conversation about taste, a topic that was covered in a Campaign panel hosted by editor Maisie McCabe which featured a lively discussion from agency luminaries Richard Brim, Chaka Sobhani, Lynsey Atkin and David Kolbusz in which Atkin advocated that creative leaders should be trusted as experts in the way we trust doctors and engineers within their respective fields.
Alongside all the chatter, the Cannes Lions awards were being judged and handed out on a daily basis. After the controversy of last year, entries were down by 25% in 2026, which was in part attributed to the toughened awards criteria.
A Cannes Lions award remains one of the most coveted prizes in the commercial creative industries so tightened restrictions should be welcomed, as they can only add to the credibility of the win. You can see all of the projects that picked up Grands Prix this time below:
AUDIO & RADIO LIONS
Hyundai: Coquí Alarmed; Agency: BBDO Puerto Rico
To bring tourists round to the distinctive sound of the Puerto Rican frog, Coquí, which some were threatening to ‘silence’ on Reddit, Hyundai replaced the unlock beep of its rental cars with the frog’s song.
FILM LIONS
Anthropic: Claude; Agency: Mother
Mother won the coveted Grand Prix in film with these two ads for Anthropic’s Claude, which illustrate how the AI chatbot can help with everyday questions.
OUTDOOR LIONS
Mercado Livre: Field Barcode; Agency: Gut
Mercado Livre inserted patterns onto football pitches in Brazil, which could be photographed and scanned for discounts.
PRINT & PUBLISHING LIONS
Heinz: Look Familiar?; Agency: Rethink
This print and poster campaign for Heinz highlights how French fries packaging reflects the ketchup brand’s keystone logo – offering a subtle suggestion that the perfect accompaniment to fries is Heinz.
DESIGN LIONS
Apple TV rebrand; Agency: TBWA\Media Arts Lab
Shot in camera, using physical glass slabs, the new Apple TV branding is an ode to craft.
DIGITAL CRAFT LIONS
Google: Project Genie; Agency: Google
Project Genie is an AI research prototype from Google Deepmind which allows users to generate 3D virtual worlds using text or image prompts.
FILM CRAFT LIONS
Coinbase: Your Way Out; Agency: Isle of Any
Isle of Any’s ad for Coinbase simulates a gaming world and shows a man escaping from his uniform life. Rather than using CGI, the spot was entirely shot in camera.
INDUSTRY CRAFT LIONS
De’Longhi: Tiny Coffee Shops; Agency: Lola
Launched during Milan Design Week, Lola Madrid created a series of intricately sculpted miniature coffee shops for De’Longhi with modelmaker Simon Weisse, who is known for his work with filmmaker Wes Anderson.
CREATIVE B2B LIONS
SKF: The Faroe Islands Space Program; Agency: Nord
While some of the world’s leaders are obsessed again with going into space, this campaign for SKF aimed to highlight how we can harness the moon’s energy without ever leaving Earth.
CREATIVE DATA LIONS
BCP: SOS POS; Agency: Circus Grey
Peruvian bank BCP created SOS POS, which allowed people who had had their smartphones stolen to block access to their accounts by verifying their identity via payment terminals in small businesses across the country.
DIRECT LIONS
Uva App: Uva Uva Bombón; Agency: De La Cruz Ogilvy
To coincide with Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl half-time appearance, the Puerto Rican delivery app Uva pledged to make a number of $1 offers when the singer performed the song Tití Me Preguntó, which features the lyric ‘Uva Uva Bombón’. Speedy Uva app users could claim the discount during the show or until stock ran out.
MEDIA LIONS
Uber Eats: Build Your Own Super Bowl Commercial; Agency: Special
Uber Eats created an interactive experience within its app, allowing audiences to create their own version of its Super Bowl ad by selecting different clips and unlocking hours of extra content.
PR GRAND PRIX
KitKat: The KitKat Heist; Agency: Burson
When 12 tonnes of KitKat bars were stolen while in transit in Europe just before Easter, the brand created the Stolen KitKat Tracker and invited the world to become ‘chocolate detectives’ to help solve the mystery.
SOCIAL AND CREATOR LIONS
Heineken: Could Have Been A Heineken; Agency: LePub
Heineken’s campaign highlights how the time spent leaving long voice notes on mobile phones could have been better spent in person.
ENTERTAINMENT LIONS
Adidas Originals: Original Forever; Agency: Johannes Leonardo
To mark 2025’s Oasis Live reunion tour, adidas Originals launched the adidas Original X Oasis Live 25 collection with a three-minute film set to a new arrangement of the band’s anthem Live Forever.
ENTERTAINMENT LIONS FOR GAMING
Clash Royale: Copycats Welcome; Agency: David
Clash Royale decided to invite players of copycat versions of its game into the real game via an online platform where they could exchange their progress in the rip off games for rewards.
ENTERTAINMENT LIONS FOR MUSIC
Adidas Originals: Original Forever; Agency: Johannes Leonardo
Adidas Originals also won in Entertainment Lions for Music for its adidas Original X Oasis Live 25 collab.
Rosalía ft Björk and Yves Tumor: Berghain; Director: Canada
A second Grand Prix was awarded in this category for Canada’s stunning Berghain music video.
ENTERTAINMENT LIONS FOR SPORT
Club Deportivo Municipal: The Thousand Sponsors of Muni; Agency: McCann Lima
Peruvian football club Deportivo Municipal created a jersey with space for 1,000 sponsor spaces, allowing fans and small businesses to support the team.
BRAND EXPERIENCE & ACTIVATION LIONS
Columbia Sportswear: Expedition Impossible; Agency: adam&eveDDB\TBWA
Columbia Sportswear set a tongue-in-cheek challenge to invite ‘flat earthers’ to find the edge of the Earth. If they did, CEO Tim Boyle would give them the company.
CREATIVE BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION LIONS
Wikifarmer: The Wedding Rice; Agency: McCann Athens
Rice is traditionally thrown over newlyweds in Greek weddings as a symbol of prosperity and fertility, though this creates wastage of edible rice at a time when the farming industry is struggling. Wikifarmer offered a more sustainable alternative, created from rice that is considered inedible due to strict EU regulations, meaning that farmers are supported while the tradition continues.
CREATIVE COMMERCE LIONS
Wisła Kraków Football Club: Lucky Fan Index; Agency: VML Poland
To encourage Wisła Kraków’s fans to support the club after it was relegated, VML Poland created the Lucky Fan Index, which uses AI to track how much luck each fan brings to the team when they attend games.
INNOVATION LIONS
Adidas: Supernova Adaptive; Agency: TBWA\Canada
Adidas worked with Down syndrome athletes and TBWA\Canada to create the Supernova Adaptive, the first performance running shoe specifically designed for the Down syndrome community.
LUXURY LIONS
Moncler: Warmer Together; Agency: WeSayHi
Al Pacino and Robert Di Niro star in this commercial for Moncler where they discuss what warmth means: both in terms of human connection and outerwear.
HEALTH & WELLNESS LIONS
The Ordinary: The Periodic Fable; Agency: Uncommon Creative Studio; Production Company: Smuggler
This campaign from The Ordinary highlights the many spurious scientific claims that come out of the beauty industry.
LION HEALTH CAMPAIGN FOR GOOD
Caritas: Vehicle of Hope; Agency: Differ
To help raise awareness of the Gaza humanitarian blockade and help get medical aid into the region, NGO Caritas worked with Differ ad agency on an unusual proposal: that Pope Francis’s former popemobile be converted into a mobile children’s clinic. The plan received Pope Francis’ personal blessing during the final months of his life, and the initiative launched a week after his funeral via the New York Times, leading to worldwide media attention.
PHARMA LIONS
Novartis: Relax Your Tight End; Agency: Fallon
Launched during the Super Bowl, this humorous spot featured legendary NFL tight ends and prostate cancer survivor Bruce Arians to encourage Americans to be screened for prostate cancer.
CREATIVE EFFECTIVENESS LIONS
AXA France: Three Words; Agency: Publicis Conseil
Three Words is a campaign by French insurance corporation AXA which permanently adjusted the company’s insurance policies by adding the words ‘and domestic violence’ to the situations it covers, allowing claimants experiencing abuse support with emergency relocation costs. It won two Grand Prix awards in last year’s Cannes Lions and this year picked up the Creative Effectiveness Grand Prix.
CREATIVE STRATEGY LIONS
Heineken: The Pub That Refused To Die; Agency: LePub
This documentary by Heineken and director Gar O’Rourke traced the story of the Aherns, the last remaining pub in the village of Kilteely, which was on the verge of closure but was saved by 26 residents who came together to buy and reopen it.
GLASS LION FOR CHANGE
Nigrum Corpus: Idomed & Instituto Yduqs; Agency: Art Plan, São Paulo
This campaign addresses racism in Brazil’s medical system via a short film that highlights the problem, and an educational book which was distributed to medical schools across the country.
GRAND PRIX FOR GOOD
Comando Con Venezuela: Book Network; Agency: Rainbow Lobster, Mexico City and Comando Con Venezuela, Caracas
This project used the QR codes on official ballot sheets in Venezuela to catalogue votes in the Presidential elections in real time, in an attempt to safeguard electoral transparency.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS LIONS
Too Good: Paid Sick Leave For Cows; Agency: The Partnership Agency, Nairobi
This project sees farmers given compensation for cows whose milk must be discarded when they are being treated with antibiotics.
TITANIUM LIONS
Suncorp Insurance: Haven; Agency: Leo Australia
This digital tool is part of a series of projects from Suncorp which aim to redefine Australia’s relationship with insurance to one of resilience and prevention as well as recovery. Haven allows users to assess the risks to their properties from climate change and offers tailored recommendations for how they might be prevented.