Procter and Gamble sent in more ads than ever to Cannes Lions this year, and by the looks of it, it's already paying off.

The Grand Prix winner of the Media Lions is a P&G campaign for Biomat laundry detergent in Israel. The 'ad' itself isn't really an ad, it's a happening, a way to reach the unreachable target market the Orthodox jews who not only don't read regular magazine media, and don't own TV’s or radios for religious reasons, but to top it all off have a negative attitude toward traditional advertising. The solution, relying on another religious commandment aiding the weak, a donate your used clothes truck which toured the neighbourhoods. While people qued up to sort out their used clothes at the Biomat-branded truck they could see as donated items were washed in the washing machine in the truck. Biomat helps you help the needy. The message worked. Biomat's shares in the Orthodox sector have grown by almost 50% since the campaign launched.

Other notable Media Lions this year were Knorr Japans clever campaign which scored "best use of outdoor". Ad agency Hakuhodo in Tokyo solved the brief 'establish a warmer connection with Knorr' by faking hot breath on cold windows. In the winter as passengers got on to the warm trains from the cold outside the Knorr special stickers created this illusion of "condensation" apparently written with a finger on the train windows. Clever.

In the "Best use of Magazines" we're not in the least surprised to find Axe, who nailed their message down, that with Axe you can get nearly any woman undressed. AD Margarita Olivar and Copywriter Juan Carlos Gonzalez at LOWE/SSPM, Bogota came up with sticker-top on a magazine, which when removed revealed the line: "Taking off her dress without her getting mad at you. That’s the Axe effect."

Best use of Outdoor goes to Adidas, of course, for their stunt "IMPOSSIBLE SPRINT" which hung the world's first vertical 100m dash on a skyscraper and stole the limelight from the real Summer Games. TBWA/JAPAN can be proud of this stunt which is easily the most talked about media event of 2004 in Asia, if not all over our little adworld.

See also; Cannes Lions Direct Winners
Cannes Media Lions Winners.
Cannes Press and poster winners
Cannes Cyber Lions Winners
Young Creatives Winners in Cannes