The Top 5 most creative Grand Prix winners we didn't see coming: Cannes 2019

Welcome to the Top 5 most creative Grand Prix winners we didn't see coming.

5. March for Our Lives: Generation Lockdown, McCann New York
The Grand Prix for Good went to “Generation Lockdown.” McCann New York and the students from the March for Our Lives were behind this film that teaches Americans how to prepare themselves in the case of an active shooting incident. It enlists the help of an unexpected expert who’s already forced to deal with such risk on a daily basis--a kid.

4. An-Nahar: The Blank Edition, Impact BBDO Dubai
The Grand Prix in Print went to a newspaper--that was completely blank. Lebanese publication An-Nahar, with agency Impact BBDO Dubai, decided to publish a paper that was devoid of content. It was a response to political gridlock that left the country without a working government for several months. The thinking behind the campaign was that if the politicians aren't working, why should anyone else? After the blank edition’s release, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief encouraged citizens to use it to write their own headlines and send messages to the politicians over social media.

3. Wendy’s: Fornite Fresh, VMLY&R Kansas City
Wendy’s earned the inaugural Social and Influencer Grand Prix for its stunt that happened in the world of “Fortnite.” The “Keeping ‘Fortnite’ Fresh” campaign from VMLY&R picked an avatar that looked a lot like the Wendy’s mascot. But instead of decimating opponents, she went straight to burger joints in the game and trashed their freezers because Wendy's doesn't do frozen burgers. Then, the game developers ended up killing the freezers from the game altogether.

2. Gazeta, Mastercard, BNP Paribas: The Last Ever Issue, VMLY&R Poland
AT number two, we have “The Last Ever Issue,” which earned the Glass Lion for Change Grand Prix. Agency VMLY&R teamed up with Polish news portal Gazeta, Mastercard and BNP Paribas to purchase one of the country’s popular porn magazines. And then, they shut it down. But before that, they released one final issue. --with the content totally reimagined to include stories about sex education, equal rights, gender identity and more. It debuted on stands on International Women’s Day.

1. Ikea: ThisAbles, McCann Tel Aviv
Ikea and McCann Tel Aviv earned the Grand Prix in Health and Wellness for ThisAbles, a suite of 3D-printed accessories that can be added to Ikea products to make them easier to use for people with disabilities, like Eldar Yusupov, a man with cerebral palsy who’s featured in the campaign film. Turns out, Eldar is actually a copywriter at the agency and is the one who came up with the idea.

That's it for the Top 5. Make sure to check out more of the best in brand creativity at Adage.com/Creativity.