CANNES — PR continues to flourish at the 2024 Cannes Lions, where Ogilvy Wednesday won a Grand Prix for leading idea creation on CereVe’s ‘Michael CeraVe’ campaign.

The Grand Prix for social & influencer was awarded to “Michael CeraVe” for CeraVe created by WPP Onefluence, which is led by Ogilvy PR New York, in the multi-platform social campaign category. The campaign also won Gold Lions for social & influencer in the innovative use of creators, influencers or celebrities category and for media in the innovative use of influencers/creators category.

‘Michael CeraVe’ was an immersive campaign that planted and spread a conspiracy, which was debunked during the Super Bowl. The three-week campaign took people on a journey from “CeraVe, developed by Michael Cera” to the real product truth — that CeraVe is developed with dermatologists.

The integrated campaign was developed and executed across earned, paid and owned channels, including a layered social media and influencer strategy that culminated in a Super Bowl-aired TV commercial where Michael Cera’s outrageous claims were squashed by a boardroom of CeraVe dermatologists.

“What a thrill to receive this Cannes Lions Grand Prix, along with two Golds, for this elaborate conspiracy that we created together with CeraVe,” said Charlotte Tansill, president of Ogilvy PR, social & influence. “By putting earned-first thinking at the forefront of this campaign, and ensuring PR, social and influencer worked in concert at every stage, we were able to drive an entirely new kind of Super Bowl experience that educated around a product truth while being wildly entertaining. Ogilvy is so grateful for the bravery and trust of our client partners, and to the many committed team members it took to pull off such an intricate story.”

Ogilvy’s win continued PR’s exceptionally strong showing at this year’s Cannes Lions, which included Golin's 'The Misheard Version' campaign for Specsavers winning the PR Grand Prix, marking the first time that a PR agency has led idea creation for the category's biggest winner.

Golin led what was probably the PR industry's best ever performance at the Cannes Lions, which included Gold Lions for Edelman's 'Bar Experience' campaign for Heineken and Weber Shandwick's 'Translators' initiative for U.S. Bank.

Weber Shandwick was also credited for PR support on another Gold Lion winner, as part of IPG's Area 23 health network, which delivered the 'In Transit' effort for the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project and Callen-Lorde Community Health Center.

And Zeno also bagged the PR credit on the Gold Lion-winning 'Heinz Ketchup Fraud' campaign from Rethink Toronto. 

Additional reporting by Arun Sudhaman