XBox Advertising Brings Home The Gold From Cannes Lions Festival

LONDON, 10th July 2002 – Two advertisements for the Xbox video game system from Microsoft have captured the prestigious Cannes Lion awards at the 2002 Cannes International Advertising Festival.

®Champagne, a short film originally created as a ®viral marketing piece for the Xbox launch, won a Golden Lion in the Best Creative Film category. It underlines, in a highly engaging and visual way, the Xbox philosophy that life is short, our time is precious, and everyone should find more opportunities to play in our daily lives. A great response led to ®Champagne also appearing on television and in cinemas in Europe.

“There were four Gold winners that could have taken the Grand Prix award in any given year, and after Nike’s ‘Tag’ spot, the ‘Champagne’ spot for Xbox was the favourite among the judges, said Jeff Goodby, president of the 2002 Cannes Lions judging panel and Chairman, Goodby Silverstein & Partners.

®Mosquito, a 60-second TV and cinema commercial creates specifically for the European launch of Xbox, picked up a Bronze Lion in the same category. The piece neatly illustrates what can happen if you forget how to have fun and play in life by telling a ®fable about a group of mosquitoes who lost the ability to sing and play.

The advertising by Xbox was created by Bartle Bogle Hegarty London, who accepted the awards. Derek Robson, Group Business Director, BBH London, said, ®We’re thrilled with these prestigious awards for the work we’ve done on behalf of Xbox. We felt these pieces really communicated the Xbox brand vision that we need to elevate play to its rightful place in our lives. Its important to balance work and play, and both ®Champagne and ®Mosquito bring those notions to life in a very engaging way.

®We’re very excited that BBH’s work was recognised by the Festival, said Neil Thompson, European Marketing Director, Xbox. ®We’ve set out to raise the quality bar in video game advertising to appeal to a broader audience, with a more inclusive feel. Video game advertising has come of age and both ®Champagne and ®Mosquito are of the calibre you’d expect from a major consumer brand like Xbox.

®Xbox leads the console market in terms of performance and fantastic game experiences, and it’s very gratifying that these prestigious judges have chosen TMChampagne and TMMosquito as leaders in the creative advertising field, said Harvey Eagle, European Advertising Manager, Xbox. We realise that broadening the market for gaming by redefining people’s notions of play is a massive challenge, and one that won’t be accomplished overnight, but we feel TMChampagne and TMMosquito further our goal of making play, and video games, a more important part of people’s lives.

The International Advertising Festival, also known as the Cannes Lions Festival, is the largest gathering of international marketing and advertising professionals in the world. This year, about 9,000 delegates from the advertising and allied industries attended the event, which showcases over 13,000 ads from all over the world. Winning companies receive the highly coveted Lion trophy, which rewards the best advertising work produced throughout the world in TV, Print, outdoor and on the Web, as well as the most innovative and creative media solutions.