KFC has earned a drumroll for its drumsticks. Ad agency Ogilvy & Mather Johannesburg took home the Grand Prix in the Radio Lions contest at the Cannes Lions Festival Wednesday for a KFC campaign that humorously reassured men they are still manly even if they occasionally do unmanly things. The campaign advertised the chain’s “Man Meal.”
U.S. agencies won six Lions in total, with five awarded to Alma DDB Miami—for Walmart/Play-Doh (two silvers), Clorox (silver for “Big Bang,” bronze for “Gravity”) and Tobacco Free Florida (bronze). Havas Worldwide New York won silver for the Dos Equis spot “Adios Amigo,” according to Adweek.
Also in the running for the Grand Prix was a Dove campaign from Ogilvy London and a “Football Memories” spot for football magazine Libero by Lola MullenLowe in Madrid. Regarding KFC’s winning spot, jury president Tom Eymundson—who is also CEO and director at Pirate Group Canada—told Adweek, “It’s very strong. That’s the beauty of radio. It’s naked. You can’t hide behind anything. You have to touch somebody out of the gate and hold them there and make them want to come back for more. These three spots, we believe, do that.”
He added: “They’re for a major brand, which is nice to see, not a small boutique shop that gets away with some of the braver ideas. So, I applaud both the agency and the client for having the balls to step up and point out the struggles that men have determining if they’re still men while doing some not-so-manly things.”