MAM
Cannes Lions Day 2: Indian agencies win eight more metals
Mumbai: Outdoing its seven Lions haul on day one of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2021, Indian agencies clinched eight metals on day two, bringing the country’s overall tally to 15.
The eight metals won include one Gold, four Silver and two Bronze Lions, with DDB Mudra Group’s ‘Project Free Period’ campaign for Stayfree bagging India’s second Gold Lion at this year’s fest. The campaign won the metal in Creative Strategy category under the audience insight sub-category.
Dentsu Webchutney’s The eight-bit journo for Vice Media bagged two Silver Lions and one Bronze Lion in Direct Lions, Creative Strategy Lions and Direct Lions, respectively.
Continuing its winning spree on day two, FCB India brought home a Silver Lion for Mumbai Police’s Punishing Signal in the PR category and Not-for-profit / Charity / Government subcategory. With this latest win, the agency leads India’s tally with six metals.
Ogilvy Mumbai bagged a Silver Lion for Dove #StopTheBeautyTest campaign in the Creative Strategy category under FMCG. Ogilvy Mumbai’s #NotJustACadburyAd campaign for Mondelez also won a Bronze Lion in Creative Data under Data-Driven targeting category.
Lowe Lintas’ Bronze Lion win for its HUL’s Lifebuoy ‘H for Handwashing’ campaign in Media under Excellence in Media Execution sub-category rounded off day two’s haul for India.
Tuesday’s wins were in the Creative Data, Creative Strategy, Direct, Media and PR categories. Here’s a look at the winning campaigns on day two of Cannes Lions 2021:
DDB Mudra Group’s ‘Project Free Period’ campaign for Stayfree
DDB Mudra Group’s campaign showcases how women in the sex trade actually look forward to periods as a welcome pause and time off from their regular work, in contrast to the opinions usually expressed by women during periods. The campaign #ProjectFreePeriod in collaboration with Stayfree India, attempts to change the conversation around two of India’s biggest taboos- periods and prostitution by reaching out to commercial sex workers in the country and helping them step out of the trade, by equipping them with other skills, one period at a time.
Dentsu Webchutney’s The 8-bit journo for Vice Media
This unique campaign was launched in 2019 when the people of Jammu & Kashmir were facing a communications blackout. Mobile networks and more importantly, internet access had been severely curtailed following the revocation of Article 370 by the government. Due to which, the average person who stayed updated through these channels, couldn’t. As SMS services resumed, the campaign combined decades-old technology and launched the world’s first teletext news portal: The 8-Bit Journo. Relevant news stories that came out in the last 4 months were recreated and sent out as text messages to lakhs of Kashmiris, thus connecting a generation of internet users, without the internet.
FCB India’s The Punishing Signal for Mumbai Police
Through this brilliant campaign, Mumbai Police and FCB Interface collaborated to teach Mumbai’s reckless honkers a lesson. They transformed a passive street signal into a Punishing Signal – one that taught Mumbaikars ‘how to #HonkResponsibly’.
Ogilvy Mumbai #StopTheBeautyTest campaign for Dove
This film by Ogilvy captures what Indian women go through during a typical arranged marriage matchmaking setup. It highlights society’s fixation with certain beauty ideals, wherein anyone falling short of those standards are made to feel rejected or
undesirable. The film questions ‘How much beauty is enough?’and exhorts us to ‘Stop The Beauty Test’.
Ogilvy Mumbai’s #NotJustACadburyAd campaign for Mondelez
Here’s how Ogilvy made a Cadbury ad also an ad for hundreds of small local businesses across the country through this much talked about campaign for Mondelez. Which’s the reason they called it ‘Not Just A Cadbury Ad’.
Lowe Lintas’ ‘H for Hand Washing’ for HUL’s Lifebuoy
MAM
Atomberg rolls out Jackie Shroff-led campaign for smart purifier
Humour-led film highlights adaptive tech, no-AMC model and app features
MUMBAI: Boil it, filter it… or just let Jackie fix it, Atomberg Technologies is tapping nostalgia and wit to make water purification a little less… dry.
In its latest campaign, the brand ropes in Jackie Shroff to reimagine the tone of old-school public service messaging, borrowing cues from the actor’s iconic polio awareness appearances. The result is a humorous, culturally familiar spin that swaps health warnings for smart water habits, turning a typically functional category into something far more watchable and shareable.
The campaign’s hook lies in simplification. Instead of drowning audiences in technical jargon, it uses comedy to break down how Atomberg’s water purifier works, positioning it as an intuitive, everyday solution rather than a complex appliance. The storytelling leans heavily on recall, using nostalgia as an entry point while subtly educating consumers about product benefits.
At the centre of the narrative is the purifier’s adaptive technology. Designed to automatically switch between RO, UV and UF modes based on TDS levels, the system aims to ensure safe drinking water while retaining essential minerals and avoiding unnecessary RO usage. Features such as Taste Tune for customised water output and Vacation Mode for low-maintenance use further underline its focus on convenience.
Beyond the product, Atomberg is also taking aim at the category’s long-standing pain point: opaque service costs. The purifier operates on a no-AMC, pay-per-need model, replacing traditional annual maintenance contracts with a more transparent structure. Backed by a two-year no-cost warranty and continued coverage on replaced parts, the offering is positioned as both cost-efficient and consumer-friendly.
The campaign, therefore, does more than advertise a product, it reframes how it is understood. By blending humour, cultural familiarity and clear product messaging, Atomberg is attempting to stand out in a cluttered market where most communication tends to be either overly technical or easily ignored.
In a space where clarity is often filtered out, this campaign keeps things simple: safe water, smarter tech, and a familiar face delivering the message with a wink.
