💡 Best ideas: Cannes Lions Vol.3
nutmeg fc #68
Since yesterday we left off with the Entertainment Lion for Sport Grand Prix, I would like to share four other ideas that were awarded in this category. To finish, an old acquaintance, which was already awarded in last year's edition.
We have only just crossed the halfway point of the Cannes Lions week. There's still a long way to go, so if you haven't registered...
Bad Luck Reverser (Refisal).
Yesterday we shared the idea of Schneider beer claiming to be the self-proclaimed lucky sponsor. But it's not just in Argentina that luck plays a wonderfully exaggerated role. A Colombian salt brand received a bronze in Entertainment Lion for Sport for embracing the folklore of football.
Excuses bars (Heineken).
When I saw this Spanish idea a few months ago I decided not to share it because I had the feeling that it wasn't real, that the bar name changes hadn't gone beyond theory and Photoshop. But it seems that I was wrong, that they really did happen. Or so they say in this nice video that won them a bronze in Entertainment Lion for Sport.
Fields of Glory (Pilsen Beer).
The Colombian beer Pilsen has decided to come to the rescue of football grounds suffering the consequences of concerts and, to do so, decided to use nothing more and nothing less than its own ingredients.
This is one of those ideas that I'd like to see behind the scenes. It's too technical to come from a creative agency. So, did this come directly from the brand? Did it come from a madman who approached them out of the blue? Is it real?
It won a bronze at Entertainment Lions for Sport, but I'm not sure who should put it on their shelf.
The fan remote (Claro).
Brazilians are not only creative with the ball at their feet and therefore we have to travel again to the country of the jogo bonito to find this idea that took another bronze in Entertainment Lion for Sport.
Personally and subjectively, it is an idea that amuses me and it is a product I would like to own. Objectively, there are already a lot of apps that tell you where to watch each match and I don't know how much real value there is in creating an ad hoc remote control to follow a single team.
What do you say?
The everyday tactician (XBox).
The Creative Effectiveness category rewards campaigns that have made an impact over a long period of time, so ideas from previous years are often seen here.
At Cannes Lions 2025, Xbox's The Everyday Tactician, which won the Grand Prix in Direct last year, was awarded a gold.
As it's the same idea, I'll share again what I said last year:
Formally, the idea looks like just another promo: a user who proves to know how to use the product better than anyone else gets an aspirational prize.
It looks like just another promotion, but it isn't.
In this case, the winner was a prominent user of Football Manager 2024, a football videogame in which you don't control the players, but you manage a team (you define tactics, training sessions, negotiate transfers and contracts, talk to the press, etc.).
And the prize broke the barrier that separates the digital from the physical: the winner joined the coaching staff of a real English team, Bromley FC, the team that won the FA Trophy final against Wrexham in 2022.
The promotion itself already gives the game a status that sets it apart from EA FC or eFootball and gives its users a sense of recognition and authority that until now they only gave themselves.
But the club also seems to have done well with the addition of this Football Manager tactician, so it could open the door for other clubs to look to sign up talented gamers as well.