BBDO's 2026 Cannes Contenders

"Will they win? I have no idea, I hope they do.

This list is really a snapshot of where we are as a brand—and the kind of work we believe is moving the industry forward. Work with real scale and commitment, not ideas built as “betas” for a festival but backed by clients willing to invest in the long term innovation. Work that holds the line on craft because that still matters. And big, populist ideas that don’t always play perfectly in international jury rooms, but absolutely drive business, culture, and our value as partners.

And if I get off the soapbox for a second—they’re also just a pile of great fucking ideas. The kind that make me proud to be in this business, and even prouder to work with all the ambitious brains across the BBDO community that made this work." - Chris Beresford-Hill, global CCO, BBDO

Pepsi - The Choice

Context: For decades, Pepsi faced the “Pepsi Paradox”: most people prefer its taste in blind tests, yet habit keeps them loyal to Coke. To challenge that, Pepsi put Coke’s most iconic symbol—the polar bear—into a blind taste test. Through Super Bowl storytelling, cryptic teasers, and cultural activations across stadiums, billboards, and social platforms, the bear chose Pepsi, sparking an existential cultural moment that spread from live game sightings to podcasts and global parody.

Business Results: The campaign became the most talked-about Super Bowl moment, generating 35B impressions, 588K+ brand mentions, 300+ social shares per minute, and “Pepsi Bear” trending on Google. It drove a 29% sales increase, delivered 95% brand attribution, and became the fastest-growing cola in the US, outperforming Apple in Super Bowl conversation and marking Pepsi’s biggest social campaign in history.

M&M's - RickTok

Context: M&M’s superfan Rick Stephan—who owns over 3,000 pieces of memorabilia—was searching for one missing item: a vintage apple tree salt-and-pepper shaker set he’s hunted for years. After discovering his story, M&M’s launched a scavenger hunt campaign, mobilizing fans across social to search attics and thrift stores, turning one collector’s quest into a shared brand experience.

Business results: Ricktok was the highest performing organic campaign in M&Ms history. Social views +3556%. 431% higher engagement than the category.

Skoda - Duobell

Context: Duobell is the world’s first bike bell designed to cut through noise cancelling headphones so pedestrians can hear cyclists approaching. A big solution built for modern safety challenges, DuoBell cuts through active noise cancellation so pedestrians can hear cyclists approaching, helping reduce collisions in urban environments.

Business results: 2.6M euro earned media in the first 24 hours. 11.9% increase in consideration. 79M euro contribution to project sales.

McDonald's - Happy Doggy

Context: McDonald’s has always been about families. But in 2025, it noticed something new: for millions of Gen Zs and millennials, pets aren’t extras, they’re family. So McDonald’s France, with BBDO Paris, launched Happy Doggy: a limited-edition collection of McDonald’s-inspired dog toys, made for the ones waiting at home.

Business results: 944,528 toys sold, 1/9 dog households reached, +231% positive sentiment, €6.2M incremental sales

Guinness - Good Things Are Coming

Context: To launch Guinness’ Open Gate Brewery in London’s West End, we fused two icons: the unmistakable Guinness pint and the spirit of the neighborhood itself. Inspired by the area’s culture, dining, shopping, and nightlife, we transformed local visuals with Guinness’ signature black-and-white aesthetic, making the brewery feel instantly at home. Anchored by the line “Good things are coming.”

Business results: The campaign helped drive 51,000 pints sold in the launch month and £1.5M in ticket sales.

Whiskas - Lucky Cats

Context: In Thailand, where many cats are still fed human food instead of proper nutrition, WHISKAS® turned a beloved cultural symbol into a movement. Inspired by the iconic Lucky Cat, the brand launched a massive 10-meter-tall WHISKAS® Lucky Cat in central Bangkok and flooded stores, shop windows, and social feeds with thousands more, reframing good nutrition as good fortune. Amplified by creators, choreography, and TikTok Shop integration.

Business Results: The campaign generated 77M earned reach, 1.2M engagements across 97 countries, 460K+ online mentions, a 146% increase in Shopee sales, and a 12% sales lift across Southeast Asia.

Skinny Mobile - Ads in My Phone Call

Context: To attract new customers without the cost of a traditional nationwide campaign, Skinny Mobile turned phone calls into media. Customers could unlock free calls by texting “Happy” to Skinny, and every 20 seconds a short Skinny ad would play during the conversation, with each call earning entries to win prizes like Jet Skis, ride-on lawn mowers, and even a new hairline.

Business Results: Over five weeks, customers spent 26.5 hours on the sponsored phone line, generating 3.1M in free media value, playing 9,584 ads, and tripling Skinny’s acquisition growth rate.

Budweiser - American Icons

Context: Budweiser’s “American Icons” is a cinematic love letter to the American spirit, created as connection to the brand faded in an increasingly disconnected country—timed to align with Budweiser’s 150th anniversary and America’s 250th. The film follows a Clydesdale foal and a fallen baby bird who grow up together, overcome adversity, and ultimately transform into American icons as the bird becomes a bald eagle and takes flight from the horse, set to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird.”

Business Results: The campaign became the #1 USA Today Ad Meter spot, drove 34% of Super Bowl conversation, generated 2.9M social mentions, and delivered a +0.16 share gain, taking 45K cases from competitors in February alone.

O Boticário - Departures

Context: The campaign explored the rarely told emotional reality of motherhood: the quiet, gradual goodbyes that begin long before children leave home, leading to empty nest syndrome. Set in a train station, each departure symbolized the end of a life stage and each arrival the beginning of another, showing how every farewell contains a new start.

Business Results: The work generated +81M organic views, +97% brand mentions, +4,350% increase in related searches, and became the brand’s highest-performing organic campaign in history.

AnNahar - Untaught History

Context: In Lebanon, decades of political deadlock prevented the creation of a unified modern history, leaving generations without a shared national narrative. On Independence Day 2025, AnNahar stepped into that void.
Using 80 years of archives and reporting, AnNahar created and published Lebanon’s first unified modern history as a nationwide newspaper edition, independently reviewed by historians and academics to ensure credibility beyond politics.

Business results: The result sparked national debate, drove educational adoption, and increased subscriptions by 40%.

M&M's - Protect the Peanut

Context: When Reddit complaints about rancid-tasting Peanut M&M’S began piling up, we didn’t just apologize, we reimagined the peanut. In partnership with the University of Georgia, M&M’S developed more resilient, better-tasting peanut varieties that improved consistency and shelf life across every Peanut M&M’S, then returned to Reddit to let the original complainers try them firsthand.

Business results: The initiative drove 90% fewer complaints, generated 400M organic impressions in one week, and helped fuel over $1B in sales, making Peanut M&M’S one of the brand’s fastest-growing products. Mars also committed $15M through 2030 and open-sourced the innovation to competitors.

Pedigree - Best Friend AI

Context: Research shows that up to 33% of young people have used AI companions for relationships, despite 83% of people believing a real friend like a dog can improve mental health. Pedigree responded by creating “Best Friend AI,” an apparent AI companion that instead guided people to real adoptable dogs, turning nearly 18 years of shelter data into a matchmaking system based on personality, age, and location. The campaign unfolded in two phases—first sparking controversy with provocative AI OOH teasers, then revealing the truth and converting attention into adoption intent.

Business Results: In two weeks, it reached 50M+ unique profiles, saw a +472% in dog shelter searches, drove 163M+ interactions, and achieved 96% engagement growth.

Mercedes  - Test Drive Before the Test Drive

Context: With only 61 showrooms across India, Mercedes-Benz needed a way to let millions experience the feeling of driving the brand during the crowded festive season. In partnership with leading national newspapers, Mercedes-Benz placed its iconic steering wheel directly onto front pages, turning print into a tactile test drive and putting readers “in the driving seat.”

Business Results: The campaign reached 19.3M people, drove a 230% increase in interest and consideration, and helped deliver the highest monthly sales in Mercedes-Benz India’s history, with one car sold every six minutes during the festive season.

AT&T Business - Wake Up With CrAIg

Context: AT&T Business reunites The Office cast for a sequel-style campaign showcasing its Next Level Network. Craig Robinson leads as an inventor pitching “CrAIg,” an AI alarm clock built to wake up small business owners using AT&T’s fast, reliable internet, with Creed Bratton, Angela Kinsey, Oscar Nuñez, and Ellie Kemper adding to the improvised chaos. Blending comedy and familiarity, the campaign continues AT&T Business’s broader storytelling around supporting small businesses.

Business Results: +52% higher engagement than competitors. +9pts in purchase intent. +7pts in brand love. The most successful campaign in AT&T history.

Intermarché - Unloved

Context: For its 2025 Christmas campaign, French supermarket Intermarché partnered with Romance, WIZZ, and Oscar-nominated animation studio Illogic to create “Unloved,” a fully animated film about a misunderstood wolf who learns that changing what he eats can change how others see him. Combining cinematic storytelling, photorealistic animation, and the iconic French song “Le mal-aimé,” the campaign extended Intermarché’s long-running platform around better eating into a feature-film-quality holiday release.