J. Walter Thompson Cannes 2015: Health Lions Awards

On Friday, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity kicked off with Health Lions awards.

J. Walter Thompson teams walked away with several significant wins. Find our highlights below from the ceremony below.

J. Walter Thompson Sydney’s “I Touch Myself Project” for Cancer Council New South Wales swept the stage this evening. The beautiful campaign transformed the late Chrissy Amphlett’s 1990s hit “I Touch Myself,” a song about female sexuality, into a breast cancer awareness anthem aimed at inspiring a new generation of women to participate in early cancer detection. This campaign was picked up by international media within hours of launching and reached an audience of over 400 million. It was awarded two Gold Lions, a Silver Lion and three Bronze Lions.

Read more about the powerful piece here.

J. Walter Thompson Canada also took home a Silver Lion for The Hospital for Sick Children’s (SickKids) “Better Tomorrows” campaign. The Hospital for Sick Children, in Toronto, Canada, is a world leader in children’s healthcare. But like most charities, it can be overlooked during the hectic holiday season. They had to find a way to get people to take time out of their busy day to take notice and make a donation. How? By giving them a massive dose of perspective. Through a series of daily one-off ads, SickKids and J. Walter Thompson Canada reminded people what was happening in the hospital that very day. On one of the days, viewers met Taylum, a 2-year-old boy who was in need of a kidney transplant. And another day they met 12-year-old Wahaab, who was literally in a 9-hour surgery at the time the commercial aired. The campaign also stretched beyond TV: The team ran timely print ads in local and national newspapers, developed a website to house all of the spots, and even ran ads in cinemas.

Read more about the campaign here.

To add to J. Walter Thompson’s wins for the night, Adeline Siow and Kenneth Foo, a duo from J. Walter Thompson Singapore, took second place in the Young Lions Health competition. The pair and their competitors were tasked with mobilizing support for UNICEF’s objective to strengthen health systems in the developing world.

— View more pictures from the night on our Facebook page here. Stay tuned to the J. Walter Thompson Worldwide LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more insights, highlights and news from Cannes 2015. View all of our Cannes 2015 content here.