Top beauty ads at Cannes Lions

‘Leftover women’​

Representing beauty for the Asia Pacific market, China’s SK-II ‘Marriage Market Takeover’ campaign challenging the notion of 'leftover' women performed well.

P&G leads the pack​

P&G saw strong success at the awards, with various campaigns earning a place on shortlists.

Its musical number ‘Smellcome to Manhood’ (shortlisted for the Creative Effectiveness Lions) and 'Muscle Surprise' (shortlisted for the Interactive Video category in in the Cyber Lions) both impressed judges.

The company’s female hygeine brand, Always, was also recognised, with its #likeagirl campaign shortlisted for the Creative Effectiveness Lions, and its 'emojis for women' initiative shortlisted for the Influencer category in Cyber Lions.

Women in front with L’Oréal​

L’Oréal’s 'My First Women’s Day'​ was shortlisted in the Influencer category of Cyber Lions, put together by WMcCANN. It follows Valentina, a trans woman, preparing for her first international women's day in Brazil. Valentina then became an official brand rep for L'Oréal.

Changing the narrative​

Each of these campaigns have a key theme in common: addressing the idea of traditional gender stereotypes.

An ever popular hot ticket with consumers, gender equality in advertising has been thrust into the spotlight by Unilever’s recent commitment​ to removing all stereotypes from its advertising.

While clearly popular on a global scale, Unilever’s executive vice president of marketing, Aline Santos, recently told The Drum​ that brands need to be conscious of region-specific sensibilities.

"When we talk about un-stereotyping what we are trying to do is be more respectful. What I’m not suggesting is that we become so progressive in the way we do advertising that we become disrespectful to people​," she said.

“We are not creating a new political party that is going to talk about some of these issues in countries. We are just asking everyone to be more conscious of stereotypes."​