Captivating captions: FCB Chicago takes another bow

A PROJECT reworking closed captioning to better serve deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers has won the Brand Experience & Activation Grand Prix. In the most contested category of the 2025 Cannes Lions, with 2,337 entries, FCB Chicago’s ‘Caption With Intention’ — for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences — was a worthy winner.

The work has already won this year’s Design and Digital Craft Grands Prix. The reimagined system synchronises subtitles with the words being spoken on- screen, but also uses different type sizes, weights and anima- tion to signify the intonation — for example when people are shouting or whispering. It also uses different colours to ensure that the 466 million people who rely on closed captioning know who is speaking at any given time.

Jury President Tara Ford

“You can feel the difference in the experience. It’s more immersive, it’s more immediate,” said Jury President Tara Ford, chief creative officer at Droga5 London. “It’s also beautifully crafted and beautifully simple. It’s something we felt would become part of culture.”

Ford noted that the entries this year largely fell into two categories. “It was solving a problem or a consumer need, or it was just playful and entertaining. But sometimes it was a combination of both.”

11 Golds were awarded in the category to work from theUS (2), Brazil (2), Costa Rica, Peru, Poland, India, Colombia, Mexico and Germany.