Cannes Lions 2026 - Grand Prix Winners

"The body of winning work selected by our Jurors clearly demonstrates creativity as a growth driver for people, business and society, setting the global creative benchmark," said LIONS CEO Simon Cook during the Day 1 awards ceremony at Cannes Lions 2026.

 

The first wave of awards was presented in the following categories: Audio & Radio, Creative Brand, Creative B2B, Health & Wellness, Outdoor, Pharma, Print & Publishing, and the Lions Health & United Nations Foundation Grand Prix for Good.

 

Here are the winning campaigns:

 

Category: Audio & Radio Lions

Campaign: Coquí Alarmed

Agency: BBDO Puerto Rico

Brand: Hyundai Puerto Rico

Insight: In 2025, a tourist’s post on Reddit calling for the eradication of the Coquí frog due to its "annoying" sound sparked massive protests among locals. For Puerto Ricans, the song of the Coquí is not just nature noise - it is the ultimate melody of national identity, pride, and resilience. 

Solution: As a foreign brand, Hyundai decided to stand with local culture. They replaced the factory lock/unlock sound of their rental cars with the actual sound of the Coquí.

 

 

Category: Creative B2B Lions

Campaign: The Faroe Islands Space Program

Agency: NORD Stockholm

Brand: SKF

Insight: While superpowers spend billions on a new space race to harvest resources from the Moon, we forget that the Moon's greatest power (gravity) is already here with us every day, driving the ocean tides.

Solution: The campaign brilliantly packaged a complex technological topic (tidal energy) as a "space program that never leaves Earth." Presenting this perspective transformed a dry engineering project into a global, gripping narrative.

 

 

Category: Health & Wellness Lions

Campaign: The Periodic Fable

Agency: SMUGGLER, London / Uncommon Creative Studio, London

Brand: The Ordinary

Insight: The beauty industry constantly forces new terminology on us ("miracle formula," "clinical grade," "poreless"). However, this often has nothing to do with product quality and is usually just a marketing illusion to justify high prices.

Solution: The Ordinary, whose entire narrative is built on radical ingredient transparency, took the periodic table and replaced the chemical elements with 49 empty, meaningless beauty industry buzzwords. Instead of advertising a product, they gave consumers a tool for critical thinking against the pseudo-scientific propaganda pushed daily by social media and other brands.

 

 

Category: Lions Health and United Nations Foundation Grand Prix for Good Award

Campaign: Vehicle of Hope

Agency: Differ Stockholm / Colony Stockholm

Brand: Caritas (Caritas Sweden / Caritas Jerusalem)

Insight: In war zones, particularly in the Gaza Strip, children are the most vulnerable victims because medical infrastructure is completely destroyed and humanitarian aid is blocked. The campaign was based on a powerful contrast: the Pope’s vehicle (the Popemobile) is one of the most protected cars in the world, designed for the safety of just one person.

Solution: Caritas received the Pope's blessing to convert this symbolic transport into a mobile children's clinic. This directed the ultimate symbol of security toward those who are least protected in the world today—children in conflict zones. In doing so, a symbol of religious and spiritual leadership was transformed into a practical, life-saving humanitarian tool.

 

 

Category: Outdoor Lions

Campaign: Field Barcode

Agency: GUT São Paulo

Brand: Mercado Livre

Insight: People already watch football with undivided attention; brands no longer need to demand attention, they need to become part of the experience.

Solution: Mercado Livre turned the pitch at Brazil’s Pacaembu Stadium into a giant, 104-meter-wide barcode. This physical experiment stopped people in their tracks right in the middle of the match, prompting them to use their smartphones to discover and interact with the brand in real time.

 

 

Category: Pharma Lions

Campaign: Relax Your Tight End

Agency: Fallon, Minneapolis

Brand: Novartis

Insight: Prostate cancer screening is a taboo and awkward health topic in society, which often causes men to avoid getting checked. Novartis decided to turn this private, closed-off issue into large-scale public entertainment.

Solution: With the authentic involvement of celebrities, the brand created a bold, humor-filled commercial for the Super Bowl, turning a serious medical topic into a buzzing conversation across social networks and PR campaigns.

 

 

Category: Print & Publishing Lions

Campaign: Look Familiar

Agency: Rethink, Toronto

Brand: Heinz Ketchup

Insight: When ketchup lovers see a Heinz bottle at home or in a restaurant, it subconsciously triggers feelings of reassurance, nostalgia, and quality. However, to evoke this emotion, they don't even need to read the brand name on the bottle. Heinz’s visual identity is so deeply embedded in pop culture that consumers recognize it flawlessly just by its shape, color, or the silhouette of the label.

Solution: The agency created a series of minimalist print and outdoor ads featuring Heinz bottles and labels, but with the brand name completely erased and blurred out everywhere. The ad was accompanied by just one short question: "Look Familiar?".

 

 

And finally, Category: Creative Brand Lions

This category was added to the Cannes Lions Festival for the first time this year. It evaluates internal brand systems, culture, and infrastructure rather than a specific commercial or a one-off campaign. It honors companies that have turned creativity into a repeatable and sustainable business model.

Grand Prix: AB InBev. Furthermore, AB InBev became the first company in the history of the festival to win the prestigious title of Creative Marketer of the Year for a third time.

That concludes the Grand Prix winners from Day 1 of Cannes Lions 2026. We will share the winners of the coming days in the same way!

 

 

the photo materials used in the visuals belong to the respective brands and constitute their intellectual property.