Will there be Happy Dent smiles at Cannes?  ( June '16,2007, DNA)

With the Cannes Lions 2007 international advertising festival around the corner, Leo Burnett’s annual event, Aces at Cannes, screened the top 50 potential winners. While the lobbying is going on for Happy Dent Palace television commercial created by McCann Erickson, which is the only entry from India this year, guesses for who will bag the most coveted Grand Prix are also doing the rounds.

Arvind Sharma, chairman and CEO, Leo Burnett, said: “The Cannes predictions reel has been in practice at Leo Burnett since 1986.”
The list of commercial includes - Coca Cola ‘Happiness Factory’ (Netherlands), BBC Radio 2 ‘Elvis’ (London), Honda ‘Museum’ and ‘Asimo’ (London), Vaseline ‘Sea of Skin’ (New York), National Geographic Channel ‘Heavy Head’ (Sydney), Volkswagen ‘Like’, ‘Movie’ and ‘Critique’ (Miami), Central Beheer ‘Acupuncture’ (Netherland), Johnie Walker ‘Human’ (London), Burger King ‘Stuff of Legends’ (Miami), Bangkok Life Assurance ‘Salesman 1-3’ (Bangkok), Fleurop-Interflora ‘Haircut’ and ‘Party’ (Zurich), Lux ‘Balloon’ and ‘Neon Girl’ (Argentina), Altoids Sours ‘Fruit Pants’ (Chicago), Volkswagen ‘Horse’s Mouth’, ‘Tea’, and ‘Hidden Camera’ (London), Dove ‘Evolution’ (Toronto), Nike ‘Defy’ (Netherlands), G4 TV-Midnight Spank ‘Bedroom’ and ‘Kidney’ (New York), American Express ‘Animals’ (New York), Quicksilver Surf Gear ‘Dynamite’ (Copenhagen), Scuola D’arte Drammatica Paolo Grassi ‘Registration is open’ (Milan), Lynx Deodorant ‘Billions’ (London), Mountain Dew ‘Master’ (New York), Axe ‘Crashes’ and ‘Fishes’ (Argentina), Levis ‘Dangerous Liaisons’ (London), Ace ‘Sacred Babies’ (Argentina), Happy Dent ‘Palace’ (India), Coca Cola ‘Birdman’ (Argentina), Toyota Tacoma ‘Robosaurus’ and ‘Nessie’ (Los Angeles), Trvellers ‘Snowball’ (Minneapolis), Shera Flexy Board ‘Jing-Jok’ (Bangkok), Napcan ‘Children see. Children do.’ (Sydney), XBOX 360 ‘Cops and Robbers’ (San Francisco), TFL- Motorcycle Safety ‘The day you went to work’ (London), Daimler Chrysler-Smart ‘Backseat’ (Germany), Nike ‘I feel pretty’ (Portland), Levis ‘News Story’ (New York), 1st For Women ‘Taking the Piss’ (South Africa), Red Stripe Beer ‘Foot Doctor’ and ‘Large’, MTV ‘Idiots’ (London), Energizer ‘Immortal’ (Long Beach), Motorola Razr ‘Cut Through’ (Beijing), Coca Cola ‘Video Game’ (Portland), AOL Time Warner (Spain), AIDES ‘Love Story’ (Paris), Adidas ‘David Beckham’ (Netherlands), Fosters (New York), Smooth E (Bangkok), Impulse (Argentina), Banco Hipotecario (Argentina) and Sony Bravia (London).
While Leo Burnett screened the ads, it also gave the audience at the screening a chance to put their creative minds to test. The audiences were given a chance to vote for 20 commercial out of the list of 50, which they think will win at the Cannes. The name of the winners with most correct assessments will be announced by Leo Burnett after June 24.