The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has today announced Burger King as its 2017 Creative Marketer of the Year. The award will honor Burger King for embracing and encouraging creativity across its brand communications and for the inspiring global marketing of its products.
Burger King has a hugely successful track record at Cannes Lions. The company has totaled 76 awards, including two Grands Prix in 2016 for the “McWhopper” campaign, in Print & Publishing and Media. Burger King also took home a Titanium Grand Prix in 2007 and achieved its first win in 1969, a Silver Lion for “Skinny Burger.” Since its launch in 1954, the company has expanded to become one of the largest quick-service restaurants in the world, welcoming more than 11 million people in over 100 countries daily.
“Burger King is a brand that’s built a reputation for marketing campaigns that are bold, courageous and innovative, constantly challenging the limits of creative excellence,” said Philip Thomas, chief executive of Ascential Events. “Burger King believes that being a brand with purpose can achieve long-term advantages and deliver strong business results. That’s why the company is making such an impact.”
Axel Schwan, chief marketing officer of Burger King, and Fernando Machado, head of brand marketing at Burger King, will collect the award during the 64th Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, taking place from June 17-24.
Schwan commented, “Creativity is a critical factor when it comes to helping us stand out from the pack and punch higher than our weight. This principle is applied to everything we do, from the way we differentiate ourselves by flame-grilling our burgers to the ground-breaking advertising campaigns we create.”
Machado added, “This award is a tribute to the consistently strong creative work done by the Burger King brand over time.”
Full Lineup Set For AFI Fest; Official Selections Span 44 Countries, Include 9 Best International Feature Oscar Submissions
The American Film Institute (AFI) has unveiled the full lineup for this year’s AFI Fest, taking place in Los Angeles from October 23-27. Rounding out the slate of already announced titles are such highlights as September 5 directed by Tim Fehlbaum, All We Imagine As Light directed by Payal Kapadia, The Luckiest Man in America directed by Samir Oliveros (AFI Class of 2019), Zurawski v. Texas from executive producers Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton and Jennifer Lawrence and directors Maisie Crow and Abbie Perrault, and Oh, Canada directed by Paul Schrader (AFI Class of 1969). A total of 158 films are set to screen at the 38th edition of AFI Fest.
Of the official selections, 48% are directed by women and non-binary filmmakers and 26% are directed by BIPOC filmmakers.
Additional festival highlights include documentaries Architecton directed by Victor Kossakovsky; Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie directed by David Bushell; Devo directed by Chris Smith about the legendary new wave provocateurs; Gaucho Gaucho directed by Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw; Group Therapy directed by Neil Berkeley with Emmy® winner Neil Patrick Harris and Tig Notaro; No Other Land directed by a Palestinian-Israeli team comprised of Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor and Hamdan Ballal; Pavements directed by Alex Ross Perry; and Separated directed by Errol Morris. Notable narrative titles include Black Dog (Gou Zen) directed by Guan Hu; Bonjour Tristesse directed by Durga Chew-Bose with Academy Award® nominee Chloë Sevigny; Caught By The Tides directed by Jia Zhangke; Hard Truths directed by Mike Leigh with... Read More