• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, June 23, 2011

Okay, so that's not exactly what people have been uttering in the streets of Cannes this week. But that hasn't stopped the folks from the Effie Awards and WARC to release some new research showing who the most effective advertiser, brand, holding company and agency in the world are. And the winners (drumroll please) are: Procter & Gamble, McDonald's, Omnicom and BBDO.

The findings, which are based on the results of an index compiled by WARC, and based on the Effie Awards results, are drawn from 40 worldwide Effie competitions. (In case you didn't get it, Effies are named for campaign effectiveness.)

The most effective independent shop, not affiliated with one of the major agency holding companies, is Portland-based Wieden & Kennedy.

Full results can be found at www.effieindex.com, but in case you're interested in how the top five rank, here they are for advertiser, brand and holding company.

Advertisers: Procter & Gamble Unilever Kraft Nestle Coca-Cola.

Brands McDonald's Pepsi Coca-Cola Chevrolet Vodafone

Holding Cos. Omnicom WPP IPG Publicis Havas