Ogilvy and KFC's 'Sad Man Meal' Campaign Wins Radio Grand Prix at Cannes Lions

On the seventh day of the 2017 Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, Ogilvy Johannesburg won a Grand Prix and a Gold Lion in the Radio category for its 'Sad Man Meal' campaign for KFC Double Down. The agency also won a Bronze Lion in the same category for 'Drink Anywhere’ for KFC Mojito.

The Grand Prix and Gold wins continue Ogilvy’s consistently strong showing at this year’s Festival, with 15 Lions on the day, including 4 Gold and 4 Silver Lions.  

The Johannesburg office’s ‘Sad Man Meal’ campaign was created to communicate the anguish that die-hard fans of The KFC Double Down Burger would feel about the limited-time-offer burger coming off the menu. The creative team challenged the notion that “men aren't supposed to get emotional about sad things” by featuring men confessing sad things that have happened to them. But the saddest thing of all, was that the burger was coming off the market.

Ogilvy Chicago’s ‘One Moment’ for Morton Salt also bagged a Gold Lion in the Digital Craft category, a Silver and a Bronze for Film Craft and a Bronze in PR. This brings the visually captivating campaign’s total awards haul to an impressive 5 Lions, having already won a Gold Lion in the Design category on day five. The video was designed to connect the brand with a millennial audience and calls on viewers to become a force for good in the world.

Tham Khai Meng, Worldwide Co-Chairman and Chief Creative Officer at Ogilvy, said: “The brave will inherit the earth. It takes real gumption for clients to approve work of this nature. The winning ideas are audacious, irreverent and crafted brilliantly. Tonight we celebrate all our winners, clients and teams and in particular the Grand Prix from our Johannesburg office.”

Creative Effectiveness also proved to be a successful category for the network, with 5 Lions being awarded for various campaigns. These included a Gold Lion to DAVID Buenos Aires for its ‘#Manboobs4boobs’ for MACMA and another Gold to INGO Stockholm for its ‘The Swedish Number’ campaign for The Swedish Tourist Association. 

Another notable winner for Ogilvy on the day was Ogilvy Brasil, which was awarded a Silver Lion in the Radio category for its ‘The Voice of Art’ campaign for IBM.

Ogilvy has won a total of 132 Lions so far including: 3 Grand Prix, 30 Gold, 32 Silver and 67 Bronze.