Cannes Lions has introduced new integrity standards and measures for its Awards following reports that Brazilian agency DM9, part of Omnicom’s DDB network, manipulated key segments of its winning campaign for Consul Appliances. Lions said it undertook an internal review of its awards process, resulting in a new framework that it said provides a model of accountability, rigour, and trust for creative work.
“The industry landscape is changing at lightning speed. And, in common with the rest of the industry, Cannes Lions is adapting at pace to meet this,” Simon Cook, CEO, LIONS said.
During Cannes Lions 2025, concerns about manipulation, synthetic media and the use of AI resulted in the withdrawal of Lion-winning work.
São Paulo-based DM9 picked up the prestigious Creative Data Grand Prix (and a Bronze Lion in Creative Commerce) at the 2025 festival for its ‘Efficient Way to Pay’ campaign for Consul Appliances.
The campaign aimed to help low-income Brazilian families replace old, energy-inefficient appliances by offering repayments directly from the savings on their electricity bills.
Just days after picking up the accolade, the integrity of DM9’s submission came under scrutiny. An anonymous whistleblower provided Ad Age with a version of DM9’s Cannes entry video, alleging that key segments were manipulated, ranging from digitally altered customer testimonials to doctored footage of a TED Talk by North Carolina State Senator DeAndrea Salvador and a CNN Brasil news report.
Since then, two other campaigns have been withdrawn from the Awards. They were Urihi Yanomami’s ‘Gold = Death’ and OKA Biotech’s ‘Plastic Blood’. The campaigns collectively racked up 12 Lions, including one Grand Prix, three Golds, four Silvers and four Bronzes, which have all been rescinded.
The ‘Gold = Death’ campaign highlighted the lethal effects of illegal mining on the Yanomami people. The initiative turned gold extracted from illegal mining into a cry for help: 50 real death certificates of Indigenous people who died from contamination, violence, or neglect were manually engraved on illegal gold bars seized by the police.
OKA Biotech, a biotechnology startup focused on biodegradable packaging, created a public display to highlight the presence of microplastics in the human body.
Speaking on the withdrawals, the organisers of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity announced: “Cannes Lions has confirmed that, after consultation with the entrant company, DM9, the Creative Data Lions Grand Prix winner, ‘Efficient Way to Pay’ for Consul, has been withdrawn.
“This follows the discovery that AI-generated and manipulated content was used within the case film to simulate real-world events and campaign outcomes, resulting in the jury being presented with inaccurate information during their deliberations.
“This breaches the Cannes Lions entry rules on factual representation, and undermines the trust placed in the work by our juries and the wider community. Cannes Lions exists to celebrate creativity that is real, representative, and responsible”.
From 2026 onwards, all entry submissions to the Lions will be subject to new accountability measures and integrity standards, designed not only to safeguard the integrity of the benchmark but to reaffirm the cultural and commercial value of creativity that is “real, representative, and responsible”.
The measures include a fact-checking system, data and measurement experts throughout judging and an AI integrity handbook. Breaching these guidelines can result in disqualification and withdrawals and sanctions for deliberate misconduct (including banning agencies from participating for up to three years).
“Creativity is only valuable if it’s credible. And credibility must be earned, not assumed. These timely changes mark the beginning of a new era for us all – not just for Cannes Lions, but for the future state of global creative marketing,” Cook said.
“At the heart of the Lions is creativity that drives growth. These renewed standards reflect our responsibility to both provide a platform for, and protect the value of creativity, and reinforce that creative excellence should be synonymous with creative integrity,” Cook added.
