Cannes Lions: Entertainment winners 2022 /

The Swedish Food Federation has won the Entertainment Grand Prix for its global campaign, Eat a Swede. Created in partnership with McCann, Stockholm, the campaign launched with an 18-minute satirical documentary, Eat A Swede, which used shock tactics and humour to spark debate around the impending food crisis caused by climate change and a growing global population. 

The film, which stars actor Alexander Skarsgård, sees Erik Karlsson, scientist and founder of a company called Swede Meat, ask whether people would be willing to eat human meat as an alternative protein. The campaign slogan, ‘Go Swegan’, encourages people to adopt Sweden’s sustainable food practices – Sweden has very high animal welfare standards, strict rules on the usage of antibiotics and pesticides, and a lower obesity rate than Britain and the US.

The Federation represents 800 food and drink companies in Sweden, but it’s by no means a big global brand, pointed out Entertainment jury president, Maria Garrido. ‘What we loved – and it’s important to see – is that anyone can do brilliant work.’

The Grand Prix winner met all of the jury’s main criteria, explained Garrido. They judged the work on its emotional connection, cultural relevance, value and relevance to the brand, creative excellence (the quality of the craft and storytelling) and innovation (the use of technology as well as different approaches to storytelling). 

‘We were all disturbed, engaged, entertained, mesmerised, and probably hungry after the final viewing [of Eat a Swede],’ she said. ‘Five years ago, this case study probably would have been bumped out. But today, when we’re talking about alternative food consumption to meat, when we’re talking about the planet, startup culture and celebrity culture – the timing of this case is perfect for the cultural context that we’re living in today.’

Branded entertainment is the ‘ever-evolving category’, said Garrido. ‘Ten years ago, it made a lot of sense for brands to be in this space. Today, with the proliferation of over-the-top media platforms, we asked why the brands were in this space when the typical consumer is overwhelmed by content in their everyday lives. For a brand to differentiate itself from general entertainment, it has to have a deep understanding and insight into the customer it is trying to reach. We wanted to ensure that the entertainment and the storytelling helped to sell not just the purpose but the product and the services as well.’

The category was full of innovation this year, she added. ‘Multiverse is here. Audiences are going into the virtual world to solve real-world problems and tech is being used to break down the fourth wall.’ Another trend that emerged was the prominence of gaming: ‘I suspect in future years you might see a gaming category unto itself,’ said Garrido. ‘The challenge here is that most brands are not getting it right. We are trying to apply old advertising models to a new world. Most brands have not understood how to integrate themselves seamlessly into the gaming world.’ The exception was Gold Lion winner Los Santos +3ºC, a game by Greenpeace and VMLY&R, São Paulo which brought the effects of the climate crisis to the metaverse.

In the Entertainment for Sport category, Nike took the top prize, for its cycle syncing training collection on the Nike Training Club App. NikeSync was created with R/GA London and leading female physiologist, Stacy Sims, and was designed to educate women on how to sync their training to their menstrual cycle to optimise their performance and energy at each phase.

‘The sports category is all about celebrating creativity that leverages the power of sports to connect people to brands,’ said jury president Marcel Marcondes, who is the global CMO of AB InBev. ‘It has a gigantic impact on culture. And with great power, comes great responsibility. Sports seems to be stepping up and addressing important social and environmental causes.’ NikeSync was a Grand Prix winner because the jury agreed that it demonstrated ‘how brands can leverage sports to celebrate human differences that make everyone special,’ he explained. NikeSync had true commercial impact and was a longterm initiative – not just a stunt. As meaningful as it is simple, it was a clear winner, said Marcondes. ‘This is the one, period.’

Entertainment Gold Lions were awarded to:

The Taste of Reunion for Cerveza Victoria by Ogilvy, Mexico City

Mythic Quest Grubhub Card Leak for Apple TV+ by Miramar, LA

Los Santos +3º for Greenpeace by VMLY&R, São Paulo

Toxic Influence for Dove by Ogilvy UK, London

Entertainment for Sport Gold Lions went to:

Native Sportscasters for Corona by We Believers, Brooklyn

Los Santos +3º for Greenpeace by VMLY&R, São Paulo

Stuck in the 80s for AB InBev by Soko, São Paulo