It’s that time of the year again where the world’s best and brightest in creativity gather to exchange ideas, set new benchmarks, and, of course, drink lots of rosé. In a year marked by rapidly changing AI technology, the work that stood out was often boldly playful and surprisingly human – underscoring once again how human creativity, imagination and connection remain the key ingredients to brand resonance.

A good proportion of that work came from the Asia Pacific region – we bagged a total of 118 awards including 1 Titanium, 8 Grand Prix, 22 Gold, 29 Silver, and 58 Bronze Lions. Special shoutout to Ogilvy Singapore who won two Grand Prix for the Social & Creator and Health & Wellness categories for their Vaseline Verified campaign – a social-first campaign that saw people share thousands of Vaseline hacks all over social media which were tested and “verified” by Vaseline.

To celebrate and honor the work, we got four members of our team to share their favorite winning work from Cannes Lions 2025, as well as their favorite shortlisted work that need not win an award – because great work does not need to bring home a trophy to make an impact.

Our Art Director Dominic Tan’s favorite work from this year’s Cannes is beer brand Tecate’s Gulf of Mexico Bar. He loves how quickly and sharply the campaign responded to the “Gulf of America” naming situation fueled by US President Donald Trump.

“What really stood out is that it never felt like they were hopping on a trend. As a Mexican brand deeply rooted in culture, it made perfect sense for Tecate to take a controversial political statement and flip it into something joyful and powerful. They didn’t just make noise — they involved the community that was actually affected, from sourcing ingredients from the Gulf to creating a space that felt celebratory. That kind of sincerity creates real emotional loyalty. And in this digital age, the fact that they actually built a bar in the middle of the ocean? Amazing. It’s Mexican pride, a middle finger to Trump, and great brand storytelling all wrapped into one,” Dominic says.

On the other hand, Dominic’s favorite shortlisted work is soundtracking platform Epidemic Sound’s campaign A Sound for Every Feeling, because it does so much with so little. He tells us, “The ad taps purely into human feelings. I love the hyper-contextuality of each execution: each one tailored to a specific emotional moment that people genuinely experience. The design is beautifully pared back, but still full of emotion. I love how it doesn’t try to explain too much. For the lack of a better explanation, it’s just pure vibes, and it works.”

Junior Strategist Tatiyana Emylia admits she’s a sucker for the weird and the whimsical, so it’s no surprise that her pick for favorite Cannes win is General Mills’ Progresso Soup Drops campaign, which ticks both boxes.

She says, “It sounds completely ridiculous and yet somehow it made perfect sense. If I’m sick, of course I would want soup and cough drops. So why not both in one? It instantly reminded me of the three-course dinner gum from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Is it a little gimmicky? Sure. But I still jumped on TikTok to watch people try it. And that’s what I loved — it wasn’t just random nonsense on my feed. It cut through by being physical, shareable, and totally unexpected. They nailed it.”

Heinz turned a viral Kendrick Lamar ad lib into a full-fledged cultural moment with its Mustard x Mustard campaign. The cultural agility that Heinz displayed deserves a special mention, even if it did not take home any awards from Cannes. Emylia says, “When a viral moment hands itself to a brand on a silver platter, you’d be mad not to take it. The Kendrick vs. Drake beef was the cultural moment of last year (I actually spent 10 minutes rambling about it to Talent Acquisition Specialist Anu Mani during my first MullenLowe interview), and Heinz grabbbbbbed it. We always talk about brands showing up in culture. To me, this was a perfect example of how to actually do it right. It felt natural, not forced, and didn’t try too hard to be clever. And the Super Bowl ad? Chef’s kiss.”

We’re in the middle of a global cost of living crisis, where many people are genuinely worried about making ends meet, which is why our Copywriter Emilio Carrozzino loves that German grocery chain Penny decided to do something bold: put the price front and center in its Price Packs campaign which won the Grand Prix for Print and Publishing. Emilio says, “Penny redesigned the packaging of its basic products so the only thing you could see was the price — huge, simple, unshakable. This demonstrated a carefully crafted aesthetic with real impact and a clear commitment to their customers. These are the kinds of ideas I truly love — not just made to sell, but to add value and make a real, positive difference in people’s lives.”

Heineken’s Excuses Bars campaign did not win a Gold (it bagged a Bronze), but it found a brilliant insight and nailed it with a simple idea: it turned the most common excuses for watching a match into actual bar names. “So fans didn’t have to lie anymore — “A mi casa a hacer la maleta” was literally a bar,” Emiliio says. “A clever move that mixes humor, truth, and that pure love for football we all have. Let’s be honest… who wouldn’t want the perfect excuse to watch their team in peace, without anyone bothering them?”

Senior Art Director Natasha Benedicta’s personal favorite this year isn’t a Grand Prix but RCN/Prime’s Fictional Insurance campaign that snatched Gold in the Media category. The clever and immersive idea enabling people to “buy insurance” for telenovela characters turns a dry concept of insurance into something wildly interactive.

Natasha loves that it’s “no hard sell, no moral-of-the-story, no serious life-or-death messaging, just pure entertainment. And maybe I am biased because I grew up on Indonesian soap operas with dramatic car crashes, mysterious twin siblings, and people waking up from comas with total amnesia. I genuinely believed I’d end up in some telenovela-style accident one day, so I trained myself to write with both hands, just in case. This winner is definitely an ‘Ugh, I wish I had done this’ moment.”

Natasha’s favorite Cannes shortlisted entry that didn’t win this year is the poetic, simple, and quietly revolutionary Touching Colors for the Dorina Nowill Foundation for the Blind, nominated in the Industry Craft Category. She says, “I love how it shifts color from being something visual to something emotional. Translating Coral’s paint shades into Braille poetry reframes color as something you feel, not just see. It makes you wonder: if we had to describe colors without showing them, what would we say? That feels like the kind of challenge that makes you fall in love with creativity all over again.”

Every year, Cannes is always a great reminder and jolt of inspiration to all of us, and here’s to another fantastic year ahead filled with innovation, cultural moments and human connection.