Lions Health: 2022 pharma, health & wellness winners

This year’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity recognized fewer pharma and health-related entries among the crop of top work announced Monday. Those submissions that did make the grade demonstrated an interplay between health and technology, product innovation, as well as the need to address racial inequities.

The 2022 Cannes juries awarded one pharma Grand Prix and one in health & wellness. Among the Pharma Lions, the Grand Prix went to VMLY&R NY for its work with Dell and Intel, I Will Always Be Me, a book created to help people with the muscle-wasting condition motor neurone disease (MND) to “bank” their voice.

Out of 298 total entries to the Pharma Lions, the jury doled out two Golds, as well as four Silver and four Bronze Lions. U.S. agencies took nine of the 11 pharma trophies. U.S.-based agency Area 23 won a Gold for Eyedar, an app that teaches the blind to visualize sound.

Among those winning a Silver was Anomaly NY for Now You Know, on behalf of medical device firm Abbott, and the agency also took home a Bronze for the campaign in craft. VMLY&R NY won a Bronze for I Will Always Be Me in product innovation.

As for the perennial appetite to see more branded pharmaceutical work recognized on advertising’s largest stage, some standard campaigns were recognized. House Rules, a cheeky campaign for Evofem’s vaginal contraceptive gel Phexxi by McCann Health NJ, was awarded a Silver and a Bronze.

In health & wellness, the jury recognized seven Gold, 11 Silver and 19 Bronze Lions, along with one Grand Prix. Area 23 took a Gold for Lil Sugar: Master of Disguise, a campaign which combines a hip-hop music video, app and story book to expose the dangers of overconsumption of sugar, a racial and health equity issue among communities of color.

Those picking up Golds also included Havas NY/Germany for Staybl, an iPad stabilizer app for users dealing with hand tremors, and Cox Communications for Project Convey, a video chat prototype which helps people on the autism spectrum interpret emotions. Havas and Area 23 won Silver Lions in mobile and integrated, respecitvely, for their Gold-winning campaigns.

Taking home the category’s Grand Prix was VMLY&R Mumbai’s The Killer Pack, biodegradable packaging which also helps fight mosquito-related diseases, executed on behalf of mosquito repellent brand Maxx Flash.

Both tracks saw fewer entrants and winners. In the pharma category, trophies were down by half vs. last year, with total entries declining to 298, down from 509. Out of 1,213 total health & wellness entries, down from 1,300 last year, 38 Lions were awarded vs. 47 in 2021.