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NATURA | The Amazon Greenventory | 2025
Earning from the forest without cutting it down / Natura "The Amazon Greenventory"
The assumption that the only way to profit from the Amazon is to cut down its trees? Drones and AI just proved that wrong.
Subject
technology
69 articles
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WhatsApp | Baatan Hi Baatan Mein (Love in a Few Words) | 2025
A 9-Minute Film That Connected 240 Villages / WhatsApp "Baatan Hi Baatan Mein"
How do you reach people who can't read with technology? WhatsApp's answer was to load a 9-minute film onto a truck and tour it village by village.
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PETPACE | ANIMAL ALERTS | 2024
Dogs Might Be Able to Predict Earthquakes / PetPace "ANIMAL ALERTS"
Earthquakes can't be predicted, even with today's most advanced science. But dogs might be able to do what science can't. "ANIMAL ALERTS," launched in Lima, Peru, is the world's first early warning system that uses dogs' physical data to predict earthquakes.
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SPOTIFY | Spreadbeats | 2024
World-Class Craft, Born From an Excel Cell / SPOTIFY "Spreadbeats"
Try to imagine the moment someone first came up with the idea of making a 4-minute music video in Excel. Somebody definitely laughed and said "that's insane." But that insane idea went on to win a Grand Prix. That's what advertising can be.
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DOVE | CODE MY CROWN | 2024
"We Make Games, But Hair Isn't One of Them" / DOVE "CODE MY CROWN"
85% of Black gamers say they don't see their own hair represented in video games. Dove's response wasn't an ad—it was a 200-page technical guide.
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KOREAN NATIONAL POLICE AGENCY | Knock Knock | 2023
A voice for those who can't speak / KOREAN NATIONAL POLICE AGENCY "Knock Knock"
Inspired by Morse code, this emergency reporting system lets people ask for help without saying a word. Just tap the screen, and the police know where you are. It's the first change to Korea's emergency reporting system in 65 years — the sound of a knock.
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APPLE | RELAX, IT'S IPHONE: R.I.P. LEON | 2023
You Thought It Was Dead, But It's Alive / Apple "R.I.P. LEON"
The lizard you're watching isn't moving. Worst case scenario, it's dead... wait, it's alive! That thirty-second swing from despair to joy lines up perfectly with iOS 16's "undo send" message feature.
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APPLE | THE GREATEST | 2023
This isn't a tech ad / Apple "THE GREATEST"
Seven people with disabilities drive a car, check the color of their clothes, and just go about their day, all using iPhone. That's it, that's the whole film. And it swept the Emmys, the Cannes Grand Prix, D&AD, and One Club Best in Show. The amazing part isn't the advertising. It's the people in it.
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EUROFARMA | SCROLLING THERAPY | 2023
Turning 2.5 Wasted Hours a Day Into Time That Rebuilds Muscle / EUROFARMA "SCROLLING THERAPY"
Parkinson's disease slowly erases facial expressions. People lose the ability to smile, to look surprised. But this app turns the scrolling time everyone already wastes every day into a tool for getting those muscles back.
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GORILLAZ | Gorillaz Presents | 2023
The Day a Virtual Band Took Over Real Streets / GORILLAZ "Gorillaz Presents"
In December 2022, something impossible appeared over Times Square and Piccadilly Circus. A four-person band dozens of meters tall, playing music on top of the buildings. Only visible if you held up your phone. A band that doesn't exist was, unmistakably, right there.
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富士フイルム アスタリフト | 列車のふたり ナノテクノロジー | 2023
The Moment a Story Takes Hold, Aboard a Train / Fujifilm "ASTALIFT"
What happens when you bring a story into a cosmetics commercial? This ad feels like an experiment in just that. Aoi Miyazaki, disguised in a trench coat, sunglasses, and a blonde wig, jumps onto a train. Masaki Okada, claiming he's "come from the future," launches into an endless explanation of nanotechnology. Seiko Matsuda's "Red Sweet Pea" plays in the background, and in an atmosphere that can't quite decide if it's serious or comic, the two set off on a strange journey together.
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キングソフト | WPS Cloud「働き方を自由にする」篇 | 2022
A Cool Detachment Only Hidetoshi Nishijima Can Pull Off / Kingsoft WPS Cloud "Freeing Up the Way We Work"
A man with two faces: special agent and office worker. While carrying out a mission to rescue a hostage from a burning, collapsing building, he gets a call from a coworker at his IT company, and right there on the spot he finishes editing a document using WPS Cloud. The sheer amount packed into 30 seconds is incredible.
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POLYCAM X UNESCO | BACKUP UKRAINE | 2022
Protecting a Nation's Memory from Bombs with Nothing but a Smartphone / Polycam X UNESCO "BACKUP UKRAINE"
In 2022, Russian bombing threatened to wipe out not just lives in Ukraine, but also the sculptures and churches that had watched over its cities for centuries. So creators from the ad industry came up with an idea: turn the smartphone everyone already owns into a tool for protecting cultural treasures.
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COINBASE | Less Talk, More Bitcoin | 2022
20 Million Visits in One Minute, Then the Site Crashed / COINBASE "Less Talk, More Bitcoin"
Just a QR code bouncing around the screen, for 60 seconds. No celebrities, no narration, no product explanation. At the Super Bowl, the pinnacle of advertising, Coinbase chose to do "nothing."
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COX COMMUNICATIONS | Project Convey | 2022
That Emoji Was Actually a Translator / Cox Communications "Project Convey"
AI turns the emotions on the other side of a video chat into a single emoji. Cox actually built this prototype for people with autism.
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APPLE | Detectives | 2022
The Detective Who Realized He Was Out of Focus / Apple "Detectives"
In the background of the shot, a blurry detective cries out, "Why am I the only one out of focus?" His partner replies, "Because the camera focuses on the lead." That exchange alone is enough to win you over.
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UNDER ARMOUR | THE FIRST META SNEAKER (Genesis Curry Flow) | 2022
There Was No "Metaverse" Yet, So They Made One / UNDER ARMOUR "THE FIRST META SNEAKER"
Stephen Curry set a world record for three-pointers. Under Armour wanted to prepare a commemorative sneaker. But they couldn't make one.
SCE | The Prevention Grid | 2022
When an Ad Agency Saves the Power Grid / SCE "The Prevention Grid"
The era where advertising companies make more than just ads has truly arrived. Deloitte Digital built an AI and AR-powered wildfire prevention system for a power company called SCE. It won Gold at Cannes Lions 2022—and this was Deloitte's first-ever Gold Lion, which makes it a real milestone for the industry.
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GIRLS WHO CODE | DOJACODE | 2022
Write Code, and Doja Appears / GIRLS WHO CODE "DOJACODE"
"Doja Cat is one of 999 things girls care about." That one sentence sums up the whole idea. If girls aren't interested in coding, why not use one of those 999 things to pull them in? Doja, in this case.
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EPIC GAMES | ASTRONOMICAL | 2020
What Happens When You Throw Out the Laws of Physics / Epic Games "ASTRONOMICAL"
April 2020. The world was still stuck at home. Travis Scott grew to giant size and danced his way across Fortnite's island, trampling everything in his path. 12.3 million people watched at the same time, and 27.7 million joined in over five days—the biggest live event in gaming history.
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GOOGLE | Creatability | 2019
Creativity Was Supposed to Belong to Everyone / GOOGLE "Creatability"
Moving your face to make music. Drawing a picture by listening to sound. Turning your whole body into an instrument. This wasn't a tool made for people with disabilities—it was an experiment that asked, "What do we even mean by creativity?"
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WILLIAM PATRICK CORGAN | Aeronaut VR | 2018
A hologram captured by 106 cameras changed what a music experience could be / William Patrick Corgan "Aeronaut VR"
It's a music video, but you can stand right next to Billy Corgan. As he plays piano, the scenery shifts and the colors change around him, and before you know it, you feel like you're on a journey together.
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ペディグリー | SelfieSTIX | 2018
The world's first app that recognizes dog faces / Pedigree "SelfieSTIX"
You want to take a selfie with your dog, but your dog just won't look at the camera. Pedigree decided to seriously solve this small, everyday problem.
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JORDAN BRAND | A/R JORDAN | 2018
A World First Started with a Sneaker / JORDAN BRAND "A/R JORDAN"
That dunk Jordan made in 1988 — you could summon it through your phone's camera on Snapchat. And you could buy the shoes right there on the spot, with delivery the same day. In 2018, one brand built that kind of experience.
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GOOGLE | Know What Your Data Knows | 2018
Making a TV Ad in Minutes, Live / GOOGLE "Know What Your Data Knows"
In 2018, during a live NCAA basketball broadcast watched by 43 million people across the US, Google Cloud built and aired a commercial on the spot, shaped by how the game was actually unfolding. A commercial coming together in real time, right alongside the commentary—just hearing about it is stressful enough.
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JR東日本 | Apple PayのSuica | 2017
No More Lines at the Ticket Counter This Spring / JR East "Apple Pay Suica Commuter Pass"
Spring, new beginnings. That whole business of standing in line at the ticket counter to buy a commuter pass disappears, with just an iPhone. That's really all there is to it, but something about Ryuhei Matsuda's presence, the visuals, and the sound makes it strangely pleasant.
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BURGER KING | Google Home of The Whopper | 2017
The Day a TV Ad Hacked Everyone's Living Room / Burger King "Google Home of The Whopper"
A single 15-second ad caused chaos in living rooms around the world just hours after it aired. The moment the employee on screen said "OK Google, what is the Whopper burger?", viewers' Google Home devices started talking back on their own. Google was furious, Wikipedia got hit hard, and public opinion split right down the middle. The result: the Grand Prix in the Direct category at Cannes Lions. Nobody had seen anything like it before.
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SUNCORP | SMARTPLATES | 2017
How an Insurance Company Hacked Learner-Driver Homework / AAMI "SMARTPLATES"
What this insurance company built wasn't an ad — it was an app for getting your driver's license. And it actually got officially recognized as a valid record-keeping method in Australia.
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GOOGLE, GE, MINI, NEW YORK TIMES | NYT VR | 2016
A Million Cardboard Boxes, Delivering the Future of Journalism / New York Times "NYT VR"
A million pieces of cardboard were delivered along with the newspaper. Inside was Google Cardboard. In 2016, the New York Times used it to turn the newspaper business upside down.
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JACQUARD WEARABLE FABRIC | JACQUARD WEARABLE FABRIC | 2016
The Day Your Clothes Become an Interface / Google JACQUARD
What if technology disappeared every time you put on your clothes? That's exactly what Google set out to do. This is the story of a jacket where you can control calls and music just by brushing your hand across the denim sleeve.
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Volvo Trucks | The Hamster Stunt | 2016
A Hamster (Not the Driver) Nearly Causes a Disaster / Volvo Trucks "The Hamster Stunt"
A 175-gram hamster takes the wheel of a 15-ton truck. The setting: a bumpy road right next to a cliff edge at a Spanish quarry.
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Honda | UNI-CUB | 2016
This level of quality, right when everyone else was just jumping on the trend / Honda × OK Go "I Won't Let You Down"
Right around the time everyone started making drone-shot music videos, this one came in and knocked everyone flat with how polished it was. Five and a half minutes, and I watched the whole thing without skipping once.
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PAINT | COLOR FOR THE COLORBLIND | 2016
Teaching color to people who'd never known it / Valspar "COLOR FOR THE COLORBLIND"
For the 300 million people worldwide with color blindness, a paint company found a way to "show" them color. Sounds impossible, right?
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WHAT3WORDS | 3 WORDS TO ADDRESS THE WORLD | 2015
4 billion people were made visible by 3 words / what3words "3 WORDS TO ADDRESS THE WORLD"
It's not an ad. But it won the Grand Prix at Cannes. In 2015, Nick Law, president of the Innovation jury, called it "the best body of work I've ever seen." That product was what3words.
三井不動産 | 芝浦アイランド | 2015
Driving Traffic in the Early Days of "Just Search It" / Mitsui Fudosan "Shibaura Island"
SMAP appeared in this commercial as voice-only talent, which was quite a lineup. In the ad, they say "please search for Shibaura's island," pointing viewers toward the brand's website.
BUYMA | A Kind Drone | 2015
What drones can teach you about why you need clothes / BUYMA "A Kind Drone"
Two completely naked ballet dancers move beautifully while four drones chase after them, covering up exactly the parts that need covering, for a solid minute and a half. This absurd little world is a perfect example of "doing something stylish." Maybe it rode the wave of a popular "don't worry, it's fine" catchphrase of the time, but this video, made by Dentsu, goes so far over the top it stops being a joke and starts being art.
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OWLET BABY CARE | Owlet Smart Sock | 2015
A sock that saves lives / OWLET BABY CARE "Owlet Smart Sock"
A sock measures a baby's heart rate and oxygen level, and sends an alert to a parent's phone if something seems off. It's a product designed by R/GA that won Gold in the Innovation category at Cannes in 2015.
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LIGA CONTRA EL CANCER | Shadow WiFi | 2015
The invention where WiFi only connects in the shade / LIGA CONTRA EL CANCER "Shadow WiFi"
On a beach in Peru stands a big blue wall. Get close, and your phone picks up WiFi on its own. But the signal only reaches inside the shadow the wall creates.
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HAMMERHEAD NAVIGATION | HAMMERHEAD ONE | 2015
Bikes can turn the way planes land / HAMMERHEAD "HAMMERHEAD ONE"
A "T" shape sitting on your handlebars. This device, named after a shark, handles bike navigation using nothing but light. No phone, no map, no headphones needed. LEDs blinking at the edge of your vision tell you "turn right soon" or "keep going straight." It's so simple that it actually feels brand new.
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NTT DOCOMO | 3-SECOND COOKING | 2015
DOCOMO stopped looking like DOCOMO by wasting its own technology / NTT DOCOMO "3-SECOND COOKING"
A shrimp flies through the air, passes through flames, and becomes shrimp tempura in 3 seconds. For the dumplings, the ingredients collide in midair and come together in 2.244 seconds. No CG, all real footage. The only thing you can say watching this video is "what is DOCOMO even doing" — and it still walked away with three Golds at Cannes.
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TERRES DES HOMMES | SWEETIE | 2014
This Is a 10-Year-Old Girl / Terre des Hommes "SWEETIE"
A 10-year-old girl identified 1,000 sex offenders in 10 weeks. But she doesn't exist. She's a fully computer-generated virtual girl. This is the story of an ad agency that launched its own criminal investigation.
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NOT IMPOSSIBLE LABS | PROJECT DANIEL | 2014
The Journey That Left "Impossible" Behind / NOT IMPOSSIBLE LABS "PROJECT DANIEL"
A 14-year-old boy who'd lost both arms said he'd rather be dead than become a burden to his family. A video producer who read that article flew to Sudan carrying a 3D printer, with no medical knowledge at all.
MUSIC ALBUM - JOHN FRUSCIANTE | SAT-JF14 | 2014
When an Album Falls From Space / Record Collection "SAT-JF14"
They launched an album into space, so you could only listen to it the moment the satellite passed over your head. Someone actually did this for real. It's the story behind former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante's solo album "ENCLOSURE."
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THE BARBARIAN GROUP | CINDER | 2013
The Day the Ad Industry Won a Grand Prix with a Weapon Made for Itself / THE BARBARIAN GROUP "CINDER"
At Cannes Lions 2013, the very first Grand Prix in the newly created Innovation Lions category went to a development tool made by an ad agency. And it's one they give away for free. It sounds like an odd thing to win an award for, but the reasoning behind it makes complete sense.
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IBM | People For Smarter Cities | 2013
The Day an Ad Became Part of the City / IBM "People For Smarter Cities"
A billboard becomes a bench. A roof. A ramp. Why does something so simple move us this much?
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Volvo Trucks | The Epic Split feat. Van Damme (Live Test) | 2013
The Moment Enya Starts Singing, Your Jaw Drops / Volvo Trucks "The Epic Split feat. Van Damme"
The moment Enya starts singing, my jaw dropped and I let out a tiny "whaaat" (I was in public, so I kept it quiet), and my mouth just stayed open until the end. This 75-second film, released in 11/2013, still hits just as hard today.
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MERCEDES BENZ | THE INVISIBLE DRIVE | 2012
The madness of literally building "invisible" into a car / MERCEDES-BENZ "THE INVISIBLE DRIVE"
This piece won the Grand Prix in the Outdoor category at Cannes Lions in 2012, and the first time I saw it, I just went "wait, what?" A car that's transparent — what does that even mean? But it really is see-through. Literally.
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GOOGLE | Voice Search | 2012
Why a Billboard That Got a Subway Station's Name Wrong Won a Grand Prix / GOOGLE "Voice Search"
In 2012, more than 150 oddly spelled billboards popped up on the streets of London. Outside subway stations, mysterious strings of letters that looked like station names. Outside a stadium, something like "ley-tist-skohrz." Read them out loud, and suddenly they make sense. This was an ad for Google's voice search.