VML creative Madelene McGuinness and copywriter Jordan Ellis headed to the south of France to take part in the Young Lions competition and get to see the wonder of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Here, they share their review with B&T.
Summary
Two young Australian creatives attend a five-day advertising festival full of the coolest, smartest, trendiest people you’ll ever meet. And a whole bunch of people in the advertising industry. (Stoked to see jorts making a comeback).
In between competing against creatives from around the world in the Young Lions film competition (no pressure) they learn all about the impressive feats of AI. But are reassured not to worry about their jobs as hosts of tech companies go on to demonstrate AI doing exactly what they do.
Throughout their journey the team battle against rosé and their own minds as they question everything they know about advertising in their 48-hour challenge.
Plot
The plot mostly takes place in a basement (literally where we had to compete). Surrounded by hundreds of other ‘Young Lions’. However, we were still lucky enough to take several detours and see some great talks. Notably, from the production designers of Poor Things, the marketing/product director at Patagonia and founder of STUART TREVOR, and a talk on avoiding ’NPC’ ideas from Mark Pollard. The hot tips: Keep it simple, ethical and never too polished.
If we weren’t inspired enough already, just walking around the conference and seeing all the great work up on the wall was enough to do It.
And of course, there were parties. But no spoilers!
Final take
4.5/5 stars – Would’ve been perfect if it didn’t rain.
