• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, June 16, 2015

Next week is the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, which means this week is the Cannes Lions International Festival of Cannes Lions Spoofs. The latest Cannes Lions knockoff is Dannes Lions.

Created by commercial director Daniel Shepard, Dannes Lions is a celebration of the 100 funniest ads created over the past two years as judged by Shepard himself. Of the endeavor, Shepard said: “For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by advertising and the idea of mixing my own body with a lion’s body and turning it into a trophy. This is an effort to celebrate both.”

Mmm, okay, then. Shepard says there's simply not enough appreciation in the industry for funny ads, hence Dannes Lions. While this is the first year of Dannes, Shepard says he plans to bring it back in 2016 and also recruit judges other than himself from the industry. 

Crazy as these awards sound, there have been 405 submissions for Dannes consideration from agencies such as BBDO, McCann, Leo Burnett, TBWA DDB and Grey.

What does a Dannes Lions winner receive? Public mention on the award site. What, that's not enough for you sniveling, ego-centric award whores? Besides, what's the likelihood you're going to win a Cannes Lion anyways? Go for the Dannes Lion! Entries close June 25.