Cannes Lions 2025: Health & Wellness Winners 2025 /

Vaseline has won the Grand Prix in the Health & Wellness category at Cannes Lions 2025 for the Vaseline Verified campaign, created by Ogilvy Singapore, with support from Ogilvy UK, Edelman, Mindshare and VaynerMedia.

Sharing hacks is a common behaviour on social media. When Vaseline found out that its iconic petroleum jelly product was widely talked about online – used for everything from preventing hair dye stains to creating a soft-focus effect on camera lenses – it  joined the conversation in a meaningful way.

Vaseline began lab-testing viral tips shared by content creators. Effective hacks earned their creators the title of ‘Vaseline Verified’ along with a trophy. Unsafe or misleading ones were debunked on out-of-home ads in various markets including the UK and South Africa.

The campaign also featured a TikTok collaboration with snack brand Flamin’ Hot. Together, they launched a co-branded snack pack promoting a ‘heat hack’ (applying Vaseline to your lips before eating spicy snacks).

Jury president Eric Weisberg, global chief creative officer at Havas Health, spoke about the urgency of selecting work that reflected a true dedication to wellness at a moment when ‘any brand can be a health and wellness brand’.

He added: ‘But that doesn’t mean that every brand is capable of being a health and wellness brand. That brought the difficulty of making sure that the work wasn’t purpose-washing or health-washing, but they were brands that were deeply committing to improving people’s health and wellbeing.’

He referenced the increased health inequity gap and talked about the winning work as ‘capturing joy in the face of adversity’. ‘The winners this year aren’t the best in health and wellness. It is the best work in the world, period. It is good for our industry. Because it met the moment of the state of our world with existential urgency.’

Nigrum Corpus for Idomed by Artplan, São Paulo

Sightwalks for Cemento Sol by Circus Grey, Miraflores

Group Therapy for AXA by VML, Paris

Zip Code Exam for Equality Health Foundation by Area 23, An IPG health company, New York

Make New Zealand The Best Place in the World to Have Herpes for New Zealand Herpes Foundation by Finch, Sydney and Motion Sickness, Auckland

The Count for SickKids Foundation by FCB Toronto

On top of its Gold in Health & Wellness, New Zealand Herpes Foundation (NZHF) picked up the Lions Health Grand Prix for Good for the Make New Zealand the Best Place in the World to Have Herpes campaign, created by Motion Sickness, Aotearoa.

According to the foundation, 30% of those diagnosed with herpes in New Zealand experience depressive or suicidal thoughts.

To fight the shame and isolation caused by this common virus, NZHF created a series of educational films featuring local celebrities like Sir Ashley Bloomfield, Sir Graham Henry and Mea Motu. The content was condensed into accessible educational resources.

Alongside the video content, the campaign was supported by the Herpes Stigma Index, which ranks 10 OECD countries in terms of stigma. At the start of the campaign, Spain was in first place with the lowest national Herpes Stigma, and New Zealand was in ninth place, with the second-highest rate of fear of stigmatisation. After the campaign, New Zealand worked its way up to first place.

Speaking about the winner, David Ohana, the UN Foundation’s chief communications and marketing officer, and president of this year’s Lions Health Grand Prix for Good jury, said, ‘It’s official, doom and gloom are no longer working to get a message across.’

He added, ‘This year’s Lions Health Grand Prix for Good is a brilliant example of how humour can be the best way to address tough issues, to break stereotypes and erase stigmas.’

When we interviewed Motion Sickness about the campaign, executive creative director and founder Sam Stuchbury revealed that humour acted as a Trojan horse to help break down taboos and spark conversation.

Speaking about why this approach felt right, he added: ‘We needed to give people a reason to talk about it – and a way to do it without all the awkwardness. For Kiwis, humour and uncomfortable situations go hand in hand, so it made sense.’