Australia has secured its first Gold and Silver Lions at the 2026 Cannes Lions, with TBWA\Sydney winning Gold and VML Sydney winning Silver.
TBWA\Sydney’s work for mycar, ‘Sunburnt Car’, took home the Gold Lion in the Outdoor category, alongside Eleven and BOLT Sydney/ODD STUDIOS. The campaign highlighted the dangers of Australia’s harsh UV conditions through a car upholstered in hyper-real ‘skin’, designed to mimic the effects of sun exposure on the human body.
The car made its debut at Circular Quay in Sydney earlier this year. It was rolled out as part of a wider campaign that included 55,000 free UV-sensitive stickers distributed across mycar’s national network.
From 1,410 entries submitted in the Outdoor Lions, TBWA\Sydney was one of just seven agencies globally awarded Gold.
VML Sydney won its Silver Lion in the Health & Wellness category for it’s ‘Magnif-Eye’ for 1001 Optometry, in a category where 31 Lions were awarded from 889 entries. The campaign used smartphone camera technology and AI to help detect myopia in children by analysing photos uploaded via an app.
The win adds to a strong week for VML Sydney, which led the Health & Wellness shortlist worldwide with eight nominations, all for ‘Magnif-Eye’. It also picked up shortlists in the Creative Data and Innovation categories for the same campaign.
Australia has so far secured 54 shortlists across categories including Outdoor, Health & Wellness, Audio & Radio, Print & Publishing, Social & Creator, Digital Craft, Direct, Film Craft, Design, PR, Industry Craft, Media, Entertainment, and Entertainment Lions for Sport.
More winners are to be announced in the coming days.
