The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is where the ad world’s creative stars light up the French Riviera, exchange ideas, and then drink, dance and network all night. Following the drama of the Cannes Film Festival — which was marred by two jewel heists and a man brandishing a fake grenade and gun loaded with blanks at Oscar winner Christoph Waltz — the Cannes Lions 2 a.m. curfew for loud music on the beach has been moved up to 1:30 a.m. Beach parties going ahead include Google’s Creative Sandbox soiree, the Xbox Music Party at the Microsoft Beach Club — and the inevitable appearance of Sean “Diddy” Combs. Ad Age reports that boozy beach bashes can sometimes turn ugly, such as when a group of tipsy Swedish creatives buried their Gold Lion statue in the sand, losing it forever despite offering a $1,000 reward. But despite the hangover, the many speakers worth getting up for this week include Lou Reed, Vivienne Westwood, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, Annie Leibovitz, Conan O’Brien and Tumblr’s David Karp.
Lions creative elite rock & roar
