An ingenious campaign on behalf of Penguin Books has secured the top accolade in 2022’s Cannes Lions Design category. Entitled Portuguese Reconstitution, the Grand Prix winning campaign was entered by FCB Lisbon, a rare but welcome win for Portugal.
Designed as a way of coming to terms with Portugal’s authoritarian past (1933-1974), the campaign involved reimagining the fascist constitution of that era. Celebrated artists were given a copy of the constitution and the same blue pencils that used to be used for censoring texts. They were then let loose to transform the constitutions into works of art and poetry.
“It was such a simple impactful way of expressing the idea of freedom,” said Jury President Lisa Smith, executive creative director, Jones Knowles Ritchie. “What we really liked is that Portuguese Reconstitution is more than just an idea. The eventual work was published by Penguin as a book, which has the potential to live on as educational resource.”
In terms of overall approach, Smith said the jury “wanted to celebrate work that didn’t just have an ethical side, but was also commercially viable for brands. We also set out to give oxygen to work from all over the world.” This latter point was reflected in the Jury’s Six Gold Lions, which originated in Brazil, the US, Sweden, Kenya, Canada and Pakistan/Portugal. There was also a Silver Lion for Banda Ukraine, which entered Chornobyl Vanishing Logo.