CANNES, France—With the release of the film jury shortlist at the Cannes International Advertising Festival, the race for Lions has begun. Winners are to be announced on Saturday, June 21. The United States has more than 150 spots on the shortlist.
A Grand Prix favorite, Honda Accord’s "Cog," directed by Antoine Barbou-Jacquet of Partizan Midi Minuit, Paris out of Wieden+Kennedy (W+K), Portland, Ore., is in contention. The spot features a chain reaction of car parts that lead to a Honda Accord.
U.S. car ads also made a strong showing on the shortlist. Saturn’s "Sheet Metal," helmed by Noam Murro of Biscuit Filmworks, Los Angeles, out of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners (GS&P), San Francisco, also made the shortlist cut. Two other Murro-directed Saturn Ion ads, "Childhood" and "Prom," are also in contention for Lions.
A trio of Volkswagen ads—"Chain Reaction," "Bubble Boy" and "Squares"—out of Arnold Worldwide, Boston, that have performed well during the 2003 awards show season, are also in the running. "Chain Reaction" and "Bubble Boy" were directed by Mike Mills of bicoastal The Directors Bureau, while "Squares" was helmed by Malcolm Venville of bicoastal Anonymous Content.
Additionally, "Reincarnation," a spot for Mercedes-Benz out of Merkley Newman Harty|Partners, New York, and directed by rad-ish of bicoastal Go Film, made the Lion cut. And three spots for the Mini Cooper—"This Is America," "Bulldog" and "Clown"—directed by Baker Smith of Harvest, Santa Monica, via Crispin Porter+Bogusky (CP+B), Miami, are also on the list.
Rounding out the U.S. auto entries on the shortlist are "Mr. Impatient" for Volkswagen, produced via Crossroads Films; Saturn’s "Mr. Close Talker," produced via bicoastal/international Morton Jankel Zander (MJZ); Nissan Altima’s "Sounds," produced by bicoastal Epoch Films for TBWA/Chiat/Day, Los Angeles; and a Mini spot called "Amusement Park," produced by bicoastal/international Hungry Man.
Several Nike ads also made the list for agency W+K, including "Angry Chicken" and "Young Love," directed by Traktor of bicoastal/international Partizan; and the three-spot campaign comprising the ads "Roswell Raygun," Funkship" and "Rucker Park," directed by the Hughes Brothers, and produced via Oil Factory Films, Hollywood. Nike’s "Before," directed by Lance Acord of Park Pictures, New York, also made the cut.
Budweiser scored several short list nods for work created via DDB Chicago. Those spots included: "Birthmark/Loaded," directed by Kuntz & Maguire—Tom and Mike, respectively—of MJZ; "Wedding," directed by DDB’s John Immesoete and Greg Popp, and produced via Partizan and Radke Films, Toronto; "Huge," produced via Radke; "Bottle Opener," out of Area 51 Films, Santa Monica, and helmed by John Adams (who is now at Los Angeles-based Form); "Reggae" and "Sounds of the Sea," via bicoastal/international @radical.media; Budweiser’s "Bistro," produced by Crossroads for GS&P; and "Replay," directed by Zack Snyder of bicoastal Believe Media out of Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos, Boston. Several Bud spots out of Downtown DDB Partners, Toronto, are also in contention.
Other beer and alcoholic beverages popped up on the short list. A trio of ads for Mike’s Hard Lemonade—"Ape Man," "Second Evil Head" and "Check Up"—out of Cliff Freeman + Partners, New York, made the grade. The spots were directed by Rocky Morton of MJZ. Heineken’s "Holiday Parties," out of D’Arcy, New York, and directed by Tony Kaye of Minder Media, bicoastal, is also in the running. "Limo," a Heineken spot done via Lowe, New York, prior to that account shifting to D’Arcy, made the list as well. (Heineken is now with Publicis, New York.)
Two Miller Lite spots out of Ogilvy & Mather (O&M), New York, were also included in the shortlist: "Catfight," directed by Erich Joiner of bicoastal Tool of North America, and "Holyfield," also produced via Tool of North America. Rounding out the shortlist for alcoholic beverages was Molson’s "Promotion," produced in-house.
"Shower," "Skateboard" and "Breakdance," directed by Dayton/Faris of bicoastal Bob Industries, out of Deutsch, New York, earned inclusion in the non-alcoholic drinks category. Other U.S. spots in the category included "The Osbournes," for Pepsi, directed by Bryan Buckley of Hungry Man via BBDO New York. Sierra Mist’s "Monkey," directed by Kinka Usher of House of Usher, Santa Monica, also made the list for BBDO.
Two spots directed by Jim Jenkins of Hungry Man—"Medieval Knievel" and "Three," for Dr Pepper out of Young & Rubicam, New York—were on the list. (Jenkins also saw his "One Hour Photo" for the Tribeca Film Festival, out of O&M, and featuring Martin Scorsese, make the list.) "23 vs. 39," for Gatorade out of Element 79 Partners, Chicago, and directed by Joe Pytka of PYTKA, Venice, Calif., earned inclusion. Other entries on the shortlist for non-alcoholic beverages included ads for Hershey’s Chocolate Milk, Mello Yellow Powerade and Coke.
Altoid Sour’s "Healthy Curiosity" and "Curious Body," directed by Rob Pritts of Backyard Productions, Venice, Calif., also made the list. Two Milk/PEP spots, "Fragile" and "Rescue Party," out of Bozell, New York, are in the running as well.
Other well-known U.S. spots on the shortlist include: "Terry Tate: Office Linebacker," for Reebok out of The Arnell Group, New York, directed by Rawson Thurber (who is now with F.M. Rocks, Santa Monica), and produced through bicoastal Hypnotic; Ikea’s "Lamp," directed by Spike Jonze of MJZ for CP+B; FOX Sport’s "Anti-freeze," "Iron" "Dumpster" and "Nose Hair," directed by Rocky Morton of MJZ, and done out of TBWA/Chiat/Day; and the Smith-directed "Lighting," "Wind" and "Hail," out of Cliff Freeman + Partners.
Director Frank Budgen of Gorgeous Enterprises, London—he’s repped stateside via Anonymous—has a couple of spots on the shortlist: adidas’ "Slugs" out of TBWA/180, San Francisco, and Nike’s "Streaker" out of W+K. Adidas’ "Mechanical Legs," directed by Anonymous’ David Fincher, also made the list. On the PSA front, the award-winning "Under Five" for AIDS Awareness out of Leo Burnett USA, Chicago, directed by Ralf Schmerberg of @radical.media is in the running.
