Geico pre-roll ad wins cannes grand prix in film

Ad Age, by Ann-Christine Diaz
In a move that may spark a welcome sea change in the snooze-worthy arena of pre-roll advertising, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity Film Jury awarded one of its top prizes to a mold-breaker in the category: a spot from Geico's "Unstoppable" campaign that dares viewers to try and stop watching ads in which "nothing" happens. The jury also bestowed the honor on a beautiful Leica film that brought life and historic weight to the challenged field of photography, while the Film Craft jurors gave the category's top prize to John Lewis' heart-tugging Christmas ad starring a boy and his pet penguin Monty.
What won:

Geico topped the Non-Television category. Its pre-roll, "Family," created by The Martin Agency and directed by Park Pictures' Terri Timely, put a hilarious twist on the typically boring genre and features a family sitting at the dinner table with the Geico logo plastered boldly in the middle of the frame. Seconds into the ad, a voice-over announces, "You can't skip this Geico ad because it's already over," and mid-action, the family stops, except for the dog, who proceeds to devour every bit of food on the table. Although nothing much happens beyond that, the ad gets progressively funnier since it's blatantly obvious that the actors in the scene are simply holding their poses as the dog carries on. (See long version here, ironically, following a pre-roll.)
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