Cannes Lions 2025: AUNZ Winners
AUNZ Finish Strong Week in Cannes with Multiple Grands Prix, Gold Lions
Australian production company Revolverhas won the country's first-ever Palme d'Or, while agency Bear Meets Eagle on Fire was awarded Independent Agency of the Year -- Craft, and ranked third on overall independent agency rankings.
Australian and New Zealand companies came away from the 2025 Cannes Lions Festival with multiple Grands Prix and Gold Lions across major categories.
Motion Sickness, whose campaign with FINCH‘The Best Place in the World to Have Herpes’, for the NZ Herpes Foundation, claimed two Grands Prix, a Gold Lion, and additional Bronze awards for its humorous approach to destigmatising herpes.
Bear Meets Eagle on Fire and Revolver also made waves, winning the Film Craft Grand Prix and a Gold Lion for ‘Better on a Better Mobile Network’ for Telstra, along with several Silver and Bronze Lions. Meanwhile, VML Sydney won three Industry Craft Gold Lions for ‘The Hidden Eye Test’ for 1001 Optometry, reinforcing Australia’s strength in innovative out-of-home advertising.
Other major wins included DDB New Zealand’s four Lions for ‘Certified Toasters’, DDB Sydney’s success with ‘Roobadge’, and Leo Sydney’s Silver Lion for ‘Building a More Resilient Australia’.
Special Group Auckland and TBWA NZ also scored wins, while Droga5 AUNZ and The Sweetshop earned Silver for ‘The Comments Section’.
Day 5 Friday: Motion Sickness and FINCH Win Second Grand Prix for Iconic Campaign, Telstra Take Gold Film Lion
AUNZ companies have added another Grand Prix and two Gold Lions on the final day in Cannes 2025, with 'The Best Place in the World to Have Herpes' securing an historic second Grand Prix.
The campaign for the New Zealand Herpes Foundation, from New Zealand agency Motion Sickness and Australian production company, FINCH, won the Grand Prix for Good, while Bear Meets Eagle on Fire, Revolver, and Telstra secured Gold for 'Better on a Better Mobile Network'.
Revolver also secured a Bronze Lion with Australian agency Clemengerfor their 'Go Further' spot for 7-ELEVEN. Droga5 AUNZ and The Sweetshop won a Silver Lion for their work on 'The Comments Section' for Meat & Livestock Australia.
Cannes Lions 2025 Grand Prix for Good Winners
Grand Prix - The Best Place in The World to Have Herpes
Motion Sickness, FINCH, and NZ Herpes Foundation
Cannes Lions 2025 Sustainable Development Winners
Bronze Lion - The Best Place in The World to Have Herpes
Motion Sickness, FINCH, and NZ Herpes Foundation
Cannes Lions 2025 Film Winners
Gold Lion - Better on a Better Mobile Network
Bear Meets Eagle on Fire, Revolver, and Telstra
Gold Lion - The Best Place in The World to Have Herpes
Motion Sickness, FINCH, and NZ Herpes Foundation
Silver Lion - The Comments Section
Droga5, The Sweetshop, and Meat & Livestock Australia
Bronze Lion - Better on a Better Mobile Network
Bear Meets Eagle on Fire, Revolver, and Telstra
Bronze Lion - Together Is Christmas
Bear Meets Eagle on Fire, Revolver, and Telstra
Bronze Lion - Go Further
Clemmenger BBDO, Revolver, and 7-ELEVEN
Day 4 Thursday: Leo Sydney Joins Winners' Circle, as Roobadge and Certified Toasters Continue Lions Pile-On
Leo Sydney has secured its first Lion of 2025, in another strong day for AUNZ work.
Day four of the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity saw four awards presented to Australian campaigns and three to New Zealand campaigns. Among these was a Silver Lion in the Creative Business Transformation category for Leo Sydney, recognised for its ‘More Resilient Australia’ campaign for Suncorp Insurance.
It was one of only seven Lions awarded in a category with 262 entries.
VML Sydney’s ‘Hidden Eye Test’ continued its winning streak with a Creative Strategy Bronze, while DDB Sydney’s ‘Roobadge’ also added to its tally with a Brand Experience & Activation Silver.
Across the ditch, DDB New Zealand's 'Certified Toasters' and 'Worst Children's Library' added three more Bronze Lions to the agency's 2025 haul.
Cannes Lions 2025 Brand Experience and Activation Winners
Silver Lion - Roobadge
DDB Sydney and Volkswagen
Silver Lion - Time To Live
Ministry for Communication and the Arts, and Australian Cancer Research Foundation
Bronze Lion - Certified Toasters
DDB New Zealand and Goodman Fielder
Bronze Lion - Worst Children's Library
DDB New Zealand and Samsung
Cannes Lions 2025 Creative Business Transformation Winners
Silver Lion - Building a More Resilient Australia
Leo Sydney and Suncorp Insurance
Cannes Lions 2025 Creative Commerce Winners
Bronze Lion - Certified Toasters
DDB New Zealand and Goodman Fielder
Cannes Lions 2025 Creative Strategy Winners
Bronze Lion - The Hidden Eye Test
VML Sydney and 1001 Optometry
Day 3 Wednesday: AUNZ Networks Hold Strong, as Special and Supermassive Open Their Cannes 2025 Accounts
DDB and VML were once again among the antipodean winners in Cannes on day three, winning Silver and Bronze for 'Certified Toasters', and a Bronze pair for 'Legacy Lager' respectively.
Special Group Auckland also opened its 2025 account, snaring Silver and Bronze for its 'Cold Call Back Service' campaign for Export Ultra, featuring Vanilla Ice. In Australia, production company Finch added to its day one Grand Prix win, sharing a PR silver with indie agency Supermassive for '36 Months'.
TBWA\ New Zealand capped off a strong evening for the networks, winning their first lion of the festival, a Media Bronze for their 'Reshaping Rugby' campaign for 2Degrees.
Cannes Lions 2025 Direct Winners
Silver Lion - Certified Toasters
DDB New Zealand and Goodman Fielder
Cannes Lions 2025 Media Winners
Silver Lion - Cold Call Back Service
Special Auckland and Export Ultra
Bronze Lion - Time to Live
Ministry for Communication and the Arts, and Australian Cancer Research Foundation
Silver Lion - Legacy Lager
VML Sydney and Legacy Australia
Bronze Lion - Reshaping Rugby
TBWA NZ and 2Degrees
Bronze Lion - Certified Toasters
DDB NZ and Goodman Fielder
Cannes Lions 2025 PR Winners
Silver Lion - 36 Months
Supermassive, FINCH, and 36 Months
Bronze Lion - Cold Call Back Service
Special Auckland and Export Ultra
Day 2 Tuesday: Bear Meets Eagle on Fire Wins Film Craft Grand Prix, VML Australia Take a Golden Treble
Bear Meets Eagle on Fire has won the Film Craft Grand Prix, among a flurry of awards for their work for Telstra in Cannes overnight. The indie’s ‘Better on a Better Mobile Network’ brand platform, featuring nearly 30 original, stop-motion TV spots, also took out gold in the category, with ‘The Shoemaker’ and ‘The Donkey’ also picking up awards, with Revolver.
VML Australia’s out-of-home work for 1001 Optometry, featuring hidden, AI-generated eye tests, also won a trio of Gold Lions in the Industry Craft category.
Across the ditch, Motion Sickness continued its streak for ‘Make New Zealand the Best Place in the World to have Herpes’, winning bronze in the Entertainment Lions. AKQA Auckland, DDB Sydney, and Clemenger BBDO also scooped up Bronze Lions.
Cannes Lions 2025 Film Craft Winners
Grand Prix and Gold Lion - Better on a Better Mobile Network
Bear Meets Eagle on Fire and Telstra
Gold and Silver Lions - Donkey
Bear Meets Eagle on Fire, Revolver, +61 and Telstra
Bronze Lion - The Shoemaker
Bear Meets Eagle on Fire, Revolver, +61 and Telstra
Cannes Lions 2025 Industry Craft Winners
Three Gold Lions - Eye Test, Eys Scan, and Eyecare
VML Sydney and 1001 Optometry
Cannes Lions 2025 Design Winners
Bronze Lion - Packed Full of History
Clemenger BBDO and Samsung Australia
Bronze Lion - Roobadge
DDB Sydney and Volkswagen
Cannes Lions 2025 Digital Craft Winners
Bronze Lion - Body Swap
AKQA Auckland, AKQA Melbourne, and Netflix
Cannes Lions 2025 Entertainment Winners
Bronze Lion - Make New Zealand the Best Place in the World to have Herpes
Motion Sickness and The New Zealand Herpes Foundation
Day 1 Monday: Motion Sickness Wins Grand Prix, as DDB Claims Three Lions
Australian and New Zealand agencies were among the winners on the first night at Cannes, with Motion Sickness and FINCH sharing the Lions Health and United Nations Grand Prix for Good.
The winning spot 'The Best Place in the World to Have Herpes' for the NZ Herpes Foundation featured a first-of-its-kind ‘Herpes Destigmatisation Course’, a global ranking system underpinned by live data and humour.
The campaign took an unusual approach to reducing herpes stigma, framing it as a key to restoring New Zealand’s national pride.
Jury President David Ohana, United Nations Foundation CMO, said the winner used “unabashed” humour to tackle stigmatisation.
“Forget doom and gloom, there’s enough of that already to go around,” David said.
“Our 2025 awardee took a taboo topic and turned it on its head – showing that with a great strategy, a big, bold, crazy idea ( I can only imagine the pitch), and humour for days, that anything is possible."
DDB offices in Sydney, Melbourne, and Auckland also all took home Lions, along with Ogilvy Sydney and New Zealand agency, Assembly.
Cannes Lions 2025 Health & Wellness Winners
Grand Prix For Good and Gold Lion – The Best Place in the World to Have Herpes
Motion Sickness, FINCH, and NZ Herpes Foundation
Bronze Lion – Diary of a Head Injury
Assembly, The Tuesday Club, and Headway
Bronze Lion – The University of Dyslexic Thinking
DDB Melbourne and Dyslexia x Virgin
Cannes Lions 2025 Outdoor Winners
Silver Lion – Meet Me At The Coke Sign
Ogilvy Sydney and Coca-Cola
Bronze Lions – Awkboards
FCB New Zealand and Life Pharmacy
Bronze Lion – Worst Children's Library
DDB New Zealand and Samsung
