Papaya Films Swoops the 2019 Cannes Lions

Polish creative production company Papaya Films took the 2019 Cannes Lions by storm this past weekend, winning five awards including Glass and Titanium Lions. 

Their work on 'The Last Ever Issue' campaign picked up three Bronze Lions (Brand Experience & Activation, Media, Print & Publishing Press), as well as two of the night’s prestigious awards: The Grand Prix in the Glass: The Lion for Change category, as well as the Gold Lion in Titanium. The Glass Lion typically celebrates culture-shifting creativity, focusing on works addressing gender inequalities and prejudice, whilst the Titanium Lion recognises creatives whose work changes the face of the industry, pushing it in new unexpected directions.

The campaign was developed by VMLY&R in collaboration with Gazeta.pl and had MasterCard and BNP Paribas as principal partners of the project. Papaya Films handled the visual and production side of the content, creating work that is visually captivating and striking.

The campaign centres around VMLY&R buying out one of Poland’s longest running and most read adult magazines, Your Weekend, and publishing its last issue as a progressive, transformative look at women and sexuality. They transformed the magazine from a sexist, misogynistic publication that reduces women to sex objects, into a “conversation-sparking, ground-breaking magazine that promoted diverse and progressive narratives of femininity.” 

Published on International Women’s Day this year, the final issue of Your Weekend featured the regular sections of the magazine but reimagined the content around sexual education, gender portrayal, equal rights, sexism, and more. By shutting the magazine down after such a powerful and historic issue, the campaign speaks volumes about changing attitudes of female sexuality, particularly in media. 

This win marks the first time that a Polish ad agency and a Polish production company has won a Cannes Lion in the Grand Prix in Glass and the Titanium Lion -- and it’s clearly well-deserved. Papaya Films' work on the campaign perfectly showcased gender discrimination issues still evident today. Using archival footage and a series of powerful images, the 2-minute video outlining the work of the campaign is concise and bold.