Publicis continues to give people something to talk about with its #SeguimosTablando campaign. The initiative was recognized with a bronze metal in Creative Effectiveness at Cannes Lions 2022, a category in which only the pieces that won in the latest editions of the advertising contest can be entered.
In #SeguimosTablando, journalist Javier Valdez, assassinated in 2017, ‘revives’ to deliver a message to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The Publicis team created the campaign together with the defense and legal representation organization for journalists at risk Civic Proposal.
In its first stage in 2019, the Twitter accounts of four journalists murdered in Mexico, Javier Valdez, Miroslava Breach, Moisés Sánchez and José Armando Rodríguez ‘El Choco’, were reactivated to demand justice for their deaths and those of their colleagues in the country.
Later, in November 2020, Javier Valdez ‘appeared’ in a video to ask the president of Mexico to commit to creating policies to protect journalists and freedom of expression.
#SeguimosTablando was the most awarded creative piece in the history of Cannes Lions with nine medals: three gold in the Direct, Social & Influencer and Sustainable categories; two silver in Direct and Sustainable, three bronze in PR and Media, and the Grand Prix For Good, which is awarded to the best work created for charities, foundations, non-governmental organizations, non-profits and art installations such as museums and libraries.
According to the Civic Proposal organization, Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries to be a journalist. Based on their records, from 2006 (marked by the start of Felipe Calderón’s six-year term) to the present, there have been 154 journalists murdered and 14 disappeared.
Among the attacks that have been followed up, threats, criminalizations, judicial harassment, disappearances and homicides stand out.
The second award-winning work
Publicis also brings home another bronze. This is a lion won in the Social & Influencers category, with the Pause is Power campaign for the Powerade beverage brand. Diego Wallach, creative director of Publicis Mexico, explains that this piece was worked on together with Publicis Italia and Leo Burnett from Chicago.
“We developed a creative idea, which actually came out of Mexico. We produced a global campaign, whose motto is Pause is power, and it is registered in several categories: film, entertainment lions for sports, health, social and influencer and creative strategy”, he mentioned a few days before the advertising festival started.
With this initiative, the brand highlights the importance of taking a break and stopping when necessary, especially for physical or mental health reasons.
The video even shows the case of Simone Biles, an Olympic gymnast who decided to stop for health reasons at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“Over time everything has been equating, Mexican agencies are increasingly at the same level as the rest of the world and today you can see ideas from Mexico that have recently been awarded at One Show and at the IAB, and that will surely be give something to talk about in Cannes. I am very confident that Mexico will have a good year, and as a representative of the country, I will always do everything possible to help its creative reputation,” he said in an interview.
