CANNES — Furthering PR’s exceptionally strong showing at the 2024 Cannes Lions, Weber Shandwick’s ‘First Edible Mascot’ work for Kellanova Pop-Tarts has won a Grand Prix for brand experience & activation, becoming the first-ever PR agency to win the award in the category.

Led by Weber Shandwick in partnership with client Kellanova, as well as with Florida Citrus Sports, Publicis, and others, ‘The First Edible Mascot’ was Pop-Tarts’ single biggest earned campaign ever. The initiative revolved around making a mascot out of a giant Pop-Tart with limbs at college football’s Pop-Tart Bowl — and serving players an edible version of the toaster pastry post-game.

‘The Edible Mascot’ garnered more than 4 billion impressions, acquired $1 million worth of 1P data and generated 15 times more brand mentions than the 10 other non-Kellanova-sponsored bowl games combined.

“Working with such an iconic brand like Pop-Tarts is a tremendous honor all its own but being part of creating one of the most momentous, culture-defining experiences — and being recognized by the Cannes Lions for this breakthrough work — is beyond compare,” said Susan Howe, president, The Weber Shandwick Collective. “I’m so proud of the team and our client partners for making something so fun with a truly value-driven mindset.”

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

What has been probably the PR industry's best ever performance at the Cannes Lions also included Ogilvy winning 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.

Gold Lions winners include 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