In January Publicis Groupe launched a global media campaign (including a Super Bowl spot) supporting the “Working With Cancer” initiative that the Groupe unveiled in Davos earlier that month. 

Today the campaign won the Health Grand Prix For Good at the Cannes Festival of Creativity. Awards were also bestowed today in the outdoor, radio/audio and print/publishing categories. 

The impetus for the “Working With Cancer” effort was Publicis Groupe CEO Arthur Sadoun’s own cancer diagnosis and treatment last year for cancer and the feedback he received that demonstrated the fear that many patients have for their lives as well as their jobs. 

Research from the American Cancer Society has indicated that half of cancer patients are afraid to tell their employer about their diagnosis despite 92% feeling that support at work positively impacts their health. 

The main goal of the campaign was to get companies to pledge to positively support their employees dealing with cancer and 600 corporations impacting 20 million employees have done so.  

“On behalf of the 600 companies that have already pledged, I would like to sincerely thank the jury for elevating Working with Cancer to another level of global awareness,” said Sadoun. The recognition, he added, “further demonstrates what is possible when we come together for positive change.” 

Mel Routhier, Jury President of Health and Wellness and CCO of VMLY&R Chicago, added: “’Working with Cancer’ stopped us in our tracks. We not only saw a brilliantly creative idea, but we also saw a globally impactful one—with scale, inclusivity and the real potential to change employee care forever.” 

The Outdoor Grand Prix went to British Airways for its “A British Original” campaign that featured 515  OOH billboards across the UK, each with a different reason why people in the country travel ranging from business to showing “my kids where we really come from.” Each billboard was tailored to location, audience and type of outdoor media and adapted to the time of day, weather and news headlines. 

The media was executed by Manning Gottlieb OMD and the creative was from Uncommon Creative Studio, London.  

The Print/Publishing Grand Prix went to Lebanese newspaper An Nahar for its “Newspapers Inside the Newspaper Edition” campaign from Impact BBDO Dubai. The campaign was designed to honor the paper’s slain editor Gebran Tueni while promoting democracy and freedom of speech.  

The campaign featured multiple spreads of now defunct Middle Eastern newspapers within the pages An Nahar. Former reporters from those papers were invited to fill the spreads with their own stories without fear of censorship. The print edition of the paper sold out and online readership set a record.  

The Radio/Audio Grand Prix went to telecom company Skinny for a series of humorous ads promoting the firm’s service. The work was from Colenso BBDO Auckland.