Fearless Girl
Let’s start with one of the big-ticket winners of the 2017 awards – McCann New York’s Fearless Girl. The statue, which was commissioned by financial firm State Street Global Advisors, depicts a young girl standing defiantly across from Wall Street’s charging bull statue. The work was designed as a statement advocating for more women to be placed in financial leadership roles and to promote the SHE fund, which invests in companies that work to put females in top jobs. Fearless Girl won Grand Prix prizes across PR, Glass Lion and the Outdoor categories, while also nabbing itself the highest prize – the Titanium Grand Prix award.
Image: Andalou Agency/Getty Images

We’re The Superhumans
The 2016 Summer Paralympics boasted one of the most successful marketing campaigns in recent memory – featuring inspirational movement and unabashed pride condensed into three minutes of memorable action. With vivacious originality and a bold aesthetic, We’re The Superhumans followed on from 2012’s effort (which helped the Paralympics sell out for the first time ever), upping the ante and delivering a look at the world of disability from a new angle. We’re The Superhumans took out top honours in the Film category, earning Grand Prix status.

Meet Graham
If you never met Graham at some point over the past year, then we’d love to know how much rent you are paying for the rock you live under. Graham caused a considerable stir on the web, not only because of his unique appearance, but also because of the message he represented. Created by Towards Zero and Clemenger BBDO Melbourne to be a catalyst for conversation and education, Graham gives us a glimpse as to what we would look like if we evolved to survive collisions on the road. Highlighting our vulnerability behind the wheel, Graham’s existence is a reminder to stay safe on the roads. Meet Graham won the Grand Prix award for the Cyber category at Cannes Lions 2017.

Van Gogh: The Bedroom
Convincing the general populace to visit an art gallery takes a bit of finessing. Unless a gallery is large enough to attract major touring exhibitions, it can be hard to engage a consistent long-term audience. The Art Institute of Chicago hit a home run with its campaign to get people to visit its Van Gogh’s Bedrooms exhibition by constructing an interactive work in the gallery reminiscent of the artist’s acclaimed painting ‘The Bedroom’. Everyone was invited to stay in the room to get a sense of the artist’s worldview, with bookings available through AirBnB. The social media buzz was unparalleled, and led to a surge of online ticket sales by as much as 250 percent, making Van Gogh’s Bedrooms the highest attended exhibit in more than a decade. This campaign earned top marks and the Grand Prix award in the Creative Effectiveness category.

Björk’s ‘Notget’
Acclaimed songstress Björk has never been shy about pushing boundaries, and the music video for single ‘Notget’ is proof of this. Taken from Björk’s 2015 album Vulnicura, ‘Notget’ received some extra-special treatment when it came time to create an accompanying film clip. London-based VFX studio Analog and Björk collaborators and photographers Warren du Preez and Nick Thornton Jones created a virtual reality environment that would viewable on HTC Vive, an immersive showcase of the artist’s dalliance with digital technologies. The clip depicts Björk in an avatar form, growing into a luminous entity over the course of the song. ‘Notget’ scored the Grand Prix prize for Digital Craft.

We’ve barely scratched the service of incredibly creative work showcased and nominated throughout each category. If you are curious to see more, have a look at the full list of awe-inspiring award recipients on the Cannes Lions website now.