The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity continues its celebration of the boldest and most brilliant work in global advertising and storytelling, announcing winners across eight prestigious categories under the Entertainment and Craft Tracks. On the second awards evening, countries including Australia, Brazil, Puerto Rico, South Korea, and the United States emerged with Grand Prix accolades, many marking historic firsts.

Grand Prix Winners At The 2025 Cannes Lions International Festival

The night’s standout was FCB Chicago’s ‘Caption with Intention’ for Closed Captioning, which earned two Grand Prix, in both Design Lions and Digital Craft Lions, for its groundbreaking work in making on-screen captions an emotionally expressive and inclusive experience. Designed alongside the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community, this project reimagined accessibility through animated typography, colour and motion, so impactful it has been formally integrated into the Oscars submission rules.

Jessica Walsh, Jury President for Design Lions, had this to say: “This Grand Prix winner excelled as it masterfully married strong design with a greater idea and purpose. For over 50 years, captions for film and TV have been largely unchanged, designed to be solely functional. ‘Caption with Intention’ is a design system that brings emotion and depth and context into the caption experience. Designed alongside the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community to make films more accessible, it will transform the viewing experience for anyone using captions,” while Digital Craft Lions President Naoki Tanaka also said “The Grand Prix-winning idea offered a brilliantly simple solution to a long-overlooked problem: making cinema truly accessible. By dynamically adapting captions to voice characteristics, the work balanced functionality and design with exceptional craft. A small innovation with enormous human impact.”

Cultural Relevance Meets Innovation Across Categories

In the Entertainment Lions, South Korea took home its first-ever Grand Prix, thanks to INNOCEAN Seoul’s ‘Night Fishing’, a cinematic short shot entirely with Hyundai car cameras for its IONIQ EV brand. The sci-fi action piece connected deeply with the ad-wary MZ generation, showcasing masterful storytelling rooted in brand identity.

Brazil scored in the Entertainment Lions for Gaming, with GUT São Paulo’s ‘Call of Discounts’ for Mercado Livre. Merging gaming and commerce, the campaign featured football icon Neymar Jr. and transformed live gameplay into an interactive marketplace. “As a Jury, we consistently went back to the definition of this Gaming Lion. We asked ourselves: Did the idea tap into the community, add real value to the gaming experience, and deliver results? This Grand Prix was the whole package. It merged gameplay true to Call of Duty with ridiculously fun gamified commerce – and sold a bunch of household items in the process.” said Jury President Sue Anderson of Roblox.

In Entertainment Lions for Music, Puerto Rico and Bad Bunny made waves with ‘Tracking Bad Bunny’ by DDB Latina. The project elevated a music launch into a cultural movement and reclaimed national pride. Jury President Seiya Matsumiya praised its bold creativity and message-driven impact.

DAVID New York’s ‘Haaland Payback Time’ for Clash of Clans bagged the Grand Prix in Entertainment Lions for Sport, fusing fandom and gameplay by making football star Erling Haaland a playable character in the mobile game, an idea that saw staggering engagement and effortless jury consensus.

Exquisite Craftsmanship in Film and Industry

Australia celebrated a major win in the Film Craft Lions with ‘Better on a Better Network’ by Bear Meets Eagle On Fire for Telstra. The campaign featured 26 stop-motion vignettes highlighting regional connectivity, with 56 puppets and deeply human storytelling that Jury President Ali Ali had this to say: “Before we could vote, the Grand Prix revealed itself slowly – like great work often does. In a year dominated by AI and digital gloss, Telstra’s ‘Better on a Better Network’ felt like a breath of fresh air. Tactile, intimate, and deeply human. It reminded us why we fell in love with this industry. Fifty-six unique puppets animating 42 voices from regional Australians, across 26 stop-motion gems. All simple, all funny, all full of soul. Measured writing, inspired characters – and yes, a bird flying backwards. In a fast-content era, ‘Better on a Better Network’ felt like a warm, slow-cooked meal.”

Brazil again shone in Industry Craft Lions, where ‘Nigrum Corpus’ by Artplan for IDOMED won the Grand Prix for its creative activism. Using AI, 3D design, and rich illustrations, the project presented a beautifully crafted medical book that tackles racism in healthcare education.

Global Firsts and Growth Trends

This year’s awards reflect an encouraging rise in diverse and socially conscious creative approaches, with:

• South Korea, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Australia, and Poland achieving new milestones.
  
• A significant 17.3% growth in Design Lions entries.
  
• A dramatic 83% increase in Consumer Services submissions under Digital Craft.
  

Simon Cook, CEO of LIONS, said:

“This body of winning work represents the pinnacle of creative entertainment and artistic craft that resonate with and provide meaningful connections with today’s consumers.”

The Cannes Lions Festival continues through 20 June 2025, with nightly award shows celebrating the best in global creativity. Shortlists and winning campaigns are available on The Work via canneslions.com.