CANNES, France --

The final Cannes Lions awards ceremony of 2015 yielded a pair of Grand Prix honors in the Film competition, no Grand Prix in Branded Content & Entertainment, Grand Prix distinction in Film Craft, Titanium and Integrated Lions, and special awards which included the production company top prize, the Palme d’Or, going to Smuggler USA.

First, one of the Film Grand Prix winners came from an unlikely media sector–online pre-roll in the form of GEICO’s “Unskippable: Family Long Form 01” directed by the Terri Timely duo (consisting of Ian Kibbey and Corey Creasey) of Park Pictures for The Martin Agency, Richmond, Va. The mundane slice of life shows a family at the dinner table, accompanied by the GEICO logo–at which point a voiceover points out just after a few seconds that “you can’t skip” this GEICO ad “because it’s already over.” Indeed all the family members are in quasi-freeze frame–actually they’re simply holding their poses–as the family dog proceeds to eat all the food on the table. It’s thus the ad that’s over but still you can’t divert your eyes from it.

Cannes Film Jury president Tor Myhren, president and worldwide chief creative officer of Grey, said of the “Unskippable” spot, “This broke every rule that we know in filmmaking. In the least sexy media space available, pre-roll, GEICO made content so good they challenge you not to watch. But of course, you can’t take your eyes off it.”

In the TV/Cinema category, the Grand Prix went to F/NAZCA Saatchi & Saatchi São Paulo for Leica Institutional’s “Leica Gallery São Paulo 100” ad. Myhren said the selection of “100” for the Grand Prix was nearly unanimous by the jury. Jones + Timo of Stink directed the two-minute piece which recreates scenes from iconic photographs, strung together to celebrate Leica’s 100th anniversary and mark the launch of its gallery in São Paulo.

A total of 101 Lions were awarded in the Film competition this year, including the two Grand Prix honors.

While Film had two Grand Prix recipients, Branded Content & Entertainment had none for the second straight year. Jury president David Lubars, chief creative officer of BBDO Worldwide, explained that the jury was unable to find “a unique element that we will still be talking about in 10 years’ time,” which he attributed to the developing nature of the discipline. “The lack of Grand Prix demonstrates that this is a maturing industry where advertisers and agencies are still learning how to make credible branded content.”

Still, there were 63 lions awarded in Branded Content & Entertainment.

In Film Craft, the Grand Prix went to adam&eveDDB, London, for John Lewis Partnership’s “Monty’s Christmas” with 66 Lions announced in total. Directed by Dougal Wilson of Stink, this tug-at-the-hearstrings spot shows us the bond between a boy and his pet penguin. The inseparable pair has a grand old time together–but the lad notices that the penguin is distracted when he sees couples in love. This leads the boy to give his pal the gift of his dreams–a female penguin–even though it may mean the end of their friendship. Film Craft jury president João Daniel Tikhomiroff, founder, partner-director at Mixer, said of the selection of “Monty’s Christmas” for the highest Film Craft honor, “Our decision is absolutely from the heart. All of the Gold Lions were fantastically executed but this is the one piece that connected with us on a human level. It touched our hearts.”

Meanwhile 16 Titanium and Integrated Lions were presented. The Titanium Grand Prix went to CP+B Boulder. Colo., for Domino’s “Emoji Ordering”, while the Integrated Grand Prix was collected by Wieden+Kennedy New York for Jordan Brand, “RE2PECT.” The latter honored the since retired New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter with a series of videos from celebs and everyday fans tipping their caps to the baseball great. As for Domino’s, a customer with an account can tweet an emoji, thus placing an instant order for delivery of a pizza.

The Titanium and Integrated Jury was also responsible for selecting The ALS Association’s “Ice Bucket Challenge” as the Grand Prix for Good from among Gold Lion-winning charitable, public service or not-for-profit work that was not eligible for a Grand Prix in other entry sections.

For a full rundown of Cannes 2015 winners, click here.

Special honors
During this evening’s ceremony, Bob Greenberg, founder, chairman and CEO of R/GA, was named this year’s Lion of St. Mark in recognition of his outstanding contribution to creativity in advertising and communications. Former US Vice-President Al Gore was given the LionHeart Award for his work in bringing environmental issues to the attention of the world. And the Creative Marketer of the Year trophy was given to Heineken, collected by Jan Derck van Karnebeek, chief commercial officer.

Earning Agency of the Year distinction was R/GA New York. Grey New York came in second and Ogilvy Brasil, São Paulo third.

Independent Agency of the Year went to Droga5, New York.  Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore., finished second,  and Wieden+Kennedy, London, came in third.

The Palme d’Or, given to the most awarded production company, was presented to Smuggler USA. Blink UK came in second, Somesuch UK third, with Park Pictures in the U.S. finishing fourth and Biscuit Filmworks, also in the U.S., in fifth place.

The Network of the Year award was presented to Ogilvy & Mather with BBDO Worldwide taking second place and Grey in third.

Holding Company of the Year was WPP. Omnicom took second place and Publicis Groupe third.

Highlights from each day at Cannes Lions 2015:

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