Similar to the Cannes Film festival, I now have a stack of
magazines that is, frankly, a little ridiculous. But you also know that I’m going to read all of them. That’s right, the Cannes Lions festival has
(un)officially started, and what better way to kick off the International Festival
of Creativity (read: Corporate Advertising) than with health?
Okay, that sounded a little cynical. In reality, Cannes Lions is already one of
the best experiences of my life, and I’ve barely finished with the first
day. Everyone around me is just teeming
with ideas and excitement, and I almost feel like a little kid in a candy
store. Or like a nerd. Let’s go with that.
But onto what I did today!
Me being me, I decided that the best way to start off my Cannes Lions
experience was to go to a gay panel.
Because I have my priorities… straight.
Applying Blood
Pressure: Achieving Blood Equality Together With the FDA was probably the
perfect first panel. Hosted by Mike
Devlin, EVP Creative Director for FCB Health, along with speakers Kelsey Louie,
CEO of Gay Men’s Health Crisis, and Joy Barclay of ViiV Healthcare, the panel
focused on the stigma that gay and bisexual men face when trying to donate
blood – more specifically, that they are not allowed.
Since the 1980s, any man that has had sexual contact with another
man since 1977 has faced a lifetime ban on donating blood according the FDA
regulations. This is largely based on an
honor system under the dreaded “Question 34” on donor applications. While men could lie about their sexual
history, they shouldn’t have to, especially if they know their status.
The panel focused on the #BloodEquality campaign that FCB
ran in collaboration with the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, a PR and social
media-driven campaign that emphasized that we all share #OneBlood. The response to this campaign has been
tremendous, with the FDA reducing the ban from life-time sexual activity to
one-year celibacy. While this isn’t the
solution (and, debatably, isn’t progress), in the public eye it is making a
difference in the confidence of gay and bisexual men. Further, the campaign itself has been invited
to have an exhibit at the Civil Rights Museum in Birmingham.
The presentation was amazing, and even further, the
relevance of the campaign to my own work with AIDS Athens and Lambda Alliance
motivated me to work harder. Ironically,
however, despite their name in the title, the FDA never showed up. Mike Devlin blamed it on “regime changes” in
the US. Not to point any fingers, but…
some small ones might have dug around in federal policy since their
inauguration.
After the panel, I was able to talk with the speakers, and further
inquire into their campaign.
Specifically, I wanted to know how they handled the intersection of gay
and bisexual men who also are people of color.
Statistically, gay black men have a 1 in 2 chance of getting HIV, compared
to the 1 in 10 chance that gay men as a whole have. Given that the campaign has been invited to
the Civil Rights museum, I felt that it would be appropriate for the campaign
to expand to that area of discussion.
Long story short: I got their business cards.
Following this talk, I attended a short presentation by The
Bloc and HAP Innovations on how Health Tech is becoming more human. Following that, I rushed to the Debussy
Theatre (Now with an indoor entrance!
Fancy!) to view Why Are We
Creative, a seminar by the Emotional Network. It was… disappointing. Unorganized, tangential, and ultimately no
more than a weak showcase for a shoddy-looking documentary, I was more focused
on how hungry I was getting than on the words themselves.
But before I could eat, I had one more panel to stop
at. Healthy
Storytelling: The Importance of Embracing the Dark Side, a panel hosted by
AESOP branding. The speakers were Nick
Dutnall of AESOP, Tanial Boler, CEO and founder of Chiaro, and John Duncan, a
publisher with VICE Media. The panel
focused on telling the truth with advertising, especially in health. People need stories to become engaged with a
product, and no story is more engaging than the truth. At least, that’s what Mr. Dutnall
argued. I can’t say I disagree.
After a short meal break, I went to my last panel of the
day. The
New Tribes of Arabia, a seminar hosted by Yousef Tuqan, doubled as both a
showcase and a discussion as to the changing social media culture of the Middle
East, specifically in countries around the Arabian peninsula. The cultures here, joined more by ancestry and
tribes than by national boundaries, constantly fight between tradition and
change, and it shows in the radical marketing and popular culture that is
emerging.
Highlighted in the presentation, Tuqan brought up subjects such
as the Arabian techno-rock band Mashrou’ Leila (who I now follow on Spotify),
the Saudi Arabia ComiCon, women’s rights movements, and graffiti artists. There was constant conflict, constant
setbacks, and, above it all, constant hope for continued change. Despite respecting cultural traditions,
popular culture still managed to rise and make its own adaptations. Overall, it was a powerful presentation that
I want to watch again and again.
Finally, what better way to end my first day at Cannes Lions
than to attend the Health Lions award show?
The Lumiere Theatre is completely transformed from how it looked during
the film festival – and can I say, I kind of like it?
The biggest winner of the night was McCann Health India’s
Immunity Charm campaign, which was a Gold Lion for Awareness & Advocacy, as
well as the Grand Prix for Good.
Furthermore, the campaign won McCann Health India the award of Healthcare
Network of the Year. Unsurprisingly, the
Grand Prix went to the Meet Graham campaign.
However, the most mysterious winner of the night was The
Trafficking Exam campaign by Area 23 agency with Polaris. Due to the sensitive, most likely classified,
information of the subjects of human trafficking, no information was given
about the project. This didn’t stop the
campaign from winning a Gold Lion in Awareness & Advocacy, and, even
further, winning Area 23 the Healthcare Agency of the Year Award.
Needless to say, I’m intrigued. I’m looking forward to seeing more
developments with this campaign, if and when it’s revealed to the public. Meanwhile, I’m going to go get my signature 1
euro gelato in Juan-les-Pins, and get ready for an early morning tomorrow with
FCB Health.
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