Purpose-led campaigns had of course been a defining feature of the 2010s, but as we enter the mid-2020s it would seem that humour has well and truly taken the upper hand, with 75% of US and UK Cannes winners using humour, up massively from the 53% seen last year.
Conversely, only 13% of award-winning campaigns could be considered ‘purpose-led’, with the trend clearly falling increasingly out of favour with Cannes judges.
Faring particularly well at this year’s awards was Mother London’s ‘Best Friends’ spot for Uber One featuring a burgeoning friendship between unlikely pals Asa Butterfield and Robert De Niro, who both like to ‘eat food’ and ‘go places’.
“Humour is firmly back on the advertising agenda and juries are taking note. We know that funny ads tend to be more effective, and it’s likely the increase in laughs is helping the Star Rating rise slightly,” System1 chief customer officer, Jon Evans said.
“Now marketers and juries aren’t scared of making people laugh, the next step is to make sure the ad feels good too – in the US and UK we’re seeing a lot of humour driven by awkward or uncomfortable situations which can leave viewers feeling uncomfortable too.
“There are so many other ways to get laughs – surreal ads, slapstick ads, and character comedy like that top-scoring Uber winner. Congratulations to the team at Uber and Mother for creating such an amusing an effective ad’.”
This year’s Cannes Lions also saw a increasingly cosmopolitan trend, with 73% of awarded film ads this year coming from outside the US and UK, as opposed to only 51% last year. The top-scoring international ad was a five-Star Bronze Lion winner for Thai underwear brand Sabina. It’s also one of the funniest ads of the year, a farcical, blouse-ripping domestic drama that reflects the country’s changing social norms while also making audiences grin.
Source: marketing-beat.co.uk; lbbonline.com
