Cannes Lions PR Guide: Awards, History and 2026 Winners

Cannes Lions is the annual International Festival of Creativity, held each June in Cannes, France, where agencies and brands compete for Lions trophies in advertising, public relations and related categories. Public relations has had its own category, the PR Lions, since 2009. At the 73rd festival, held June 22 to 26, 2026, the PR Lions Grand Prix went to "The KitKat Heist" for KitKat, entered by Burson London and created by VML in partnership with Burson.

By the Everything-PR Editorial Team. Updated October 19, 2026.

What is Cannes Lions and where did it start?

Cannes Lions began in Venice, not Cannes. The first festival took place there in September 1954 as the International Advertising Film Festival, with 187 film entries from 14 countries, according to Wikipedia's festival history. It alternated between Venice and Cannes for years and settled in Cannes in 1984, per Campaign's history of the festival.

The festival is separate from the Cannes Film Festival, which runs in May and focuses on cinema. Cannes Lions runs in June and focuses on advertising, public relations and creativity.

How do the PR Lions work?

The PR Lions are the festival's dedicated public relations category, judged by a jury of practitioners and open to work from advertising agencies and PR agencies. The International Public Relations Network notes that the category was reviewed in 2019 to reflect PR's shift toward a more strategic function, and that a section called "Excellence in PR Craft" was added in 2024 for independent PR agencies and PR network companies, per its history of PR at Cannes Lions.

Entries are grouped into subcategories. The 2026 Grand Prix was awarded in Crisis Communications and Issues Management, and Burson's work for Ford, "Ford Truckle," was shortlisted in the Social Behavior in PR subcategory. The separate PR Agency of the Year title goes to the agency with the most points from shortlisted and winning PR Lions entries.

Who won the PR Lions in 2026?

Burson London won the PR Lions Grand Prix and the PR Agency of the Year title in 2026. The facts below come from AdNews's day-three results and Burson's own announcement.

Item	2026 result
Festival dates	June 22 to 26, 2026
PR Lions entries	1,156
PR Lions awarded	37 (7 Gold, 12 Silver, 17 Bronze)
Grand Prix	"The KitKat Heist," KitKat, Burson London, created by VML in partnership with Burson
PR Agency of the Year	Burson London, ahead of Golin Ketchum London and Ninch Company, Buenos Aires
PR Lions jury president	Dana Tahir, CEO of Havas Red Middle East and Egypt

Burson reported that "The KitKat Heist" also earned four Gold Lions and three Silver Lions, and that the agency won Lions credits on 1001 Optometry's "Magnify-Eye" and Oreo's "Oreo Cows," which took the Titanium Lion, per its newsroom announcement. AdNews published the full day-three results that include the PR Lions count.

Who won the PR Lions Grand Prix in 2025?

FCB India won the 2025 PR Lions Grand Prix for "Lucky Yatra," a campaign for Indian Railways that addressed fare evasion on Mumbai commuter trains. It was India's first PR Lions Grand Prix, according to Creative Moment's PR roundup. The 72nd festival ran June 16 to 20, 2025, and its PR jury was led by Tom Beckman, Global Chief Creative Officer at Weber Shandwick.

Which other Lions can PR work win?

PR-led work competes in several Lions besides the PR Lions, and each one rewards a different claim. The table summarizes what each judges.

Lion	What it judges	Why PR teams enter
PR Lions	Strategic and creative communications where PR leads	The category buyers look for first
Glass: The Lion for Change	Work that challenges gender inequality and prejudice	Purpose work that moves the conversation through earned attention
Titanium	Work that breaks new ground	Senior award with no subcategories
Creative Effectiveness	Previously shortlisted work with measurable results over time	Proof of outcomes, not launch-week attention
Creative Strategy	The insight and thinking behind the work	Signals planning quality
Creative Brand	A brand's systems for producing creative work repeatedly	The 2026 Grand Prix went to AB InBev, which signals a target list for new business
Social and Creator	Social-first ideas and creator partnerships	The 2026 Grand Prix went to Heineken's "Could Have Been a Heineken," by LePub Milan

What did the 2026 integrity rules change?

The 2026 integrity standards changed how every entry is checked before it can win. Cannes Lions announced the rules during the 2025 festival, after it investigated a Grand Prix campaign by DM9 for the appliance maker Consul, per MediaPost's report.

The five standards, as summarized by Adweek, include:

• A two-tier fact-checking system that combines human reviewers and AI analysis.
• Mandatory senior sign-off from both the agency and the client on every entry.
• Rules for synthetic media and an AI Integrity Handbook.
• Bans of up to three years for companies that knowingly submit false or misleading work, and a new Integrity Council for escalated cases.
• An annual integrity audit published by the festival.

Cannes Lions can withdraw an award at any stage, including after a Lion has been given, if it finds material misrepresentation.

Why does a Cannes Lion matter beyond the trophy?

A Cannes Lion matters beyond the trophy because winning entries leave a trail of documents that other people reference for years. The festival publishes the case, trade press reports the win, the agency repeats it in pitches and universities teach the work.

That trail is why the festival works as a hiring and new-business signal. It is also why the integrity rules matter commercially: a withdrawn award removes the record the agency was counting on. Everything-PR's view is that agencies should treat the case film and the written case as permanent public documents and write them with that in mind.

How should a PR agency decide which Lions to enter?

A PR agency should enter the Lions where its evidence is strongest, because the integrity rules make weak claims a liability. Use this order of questions.

1. Is PR the lead discipline? If yes, enter the PR Lions.
2. Is the work more than a year old with measured results? If yes, consider Creative Effectiveness.
3. Was the insight the hard part? If yes, consider Creative Strategy.
4. Did the work change how the category operates? Only then consider Titanium.
5. Can the client verify every number and sign off on it? If not, do not enter.

How does Cannes compare with other festivals?

Cannes Lions is the industry's awards festival, while other major festivals do different jobs for communications teams. Each one suits a different goal.

Festival	When	Best for
Cannes Lions	June	Awards, agency credentials and senior buyers
SXSW	March	Technology, culture and brand activations
Coachella	April	Creator and celebrity content around a music festival
Glastonbury	June	A festival that sells out without conventional PR
Burning Man	Late summer	A brand built without advertising

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• SXSW guide: 2026 changes, the AI shift and the PR playbook
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• Event PR tips: how Coachella, SXSW and Burning Man built the playbook