Dove wins Cannes Lions Media Grand Prix

WPP Media’s Mindshare worked with Dove to create ‘Dove Real Beauty Redefined For the AI Era’

 Unilever's 20th anniversary Real Beauty campaign for Dove has been awarded the top media prize at the 2025 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, picking up the Grand Prix in the festival's Media Lions ceremony in France today.

The campaign, which was developed with Mindshare in partnership with Droga5, addresses the challenge of misaligned beauty standards in generative AI models. Dove and Mindshare collaborated with Pinterest to allow consumers to create shareable images based on their own definitions of real beauty to train the platform’s search algorithm for the future — and reflect the beauty they defined for themselves on Pinterest.  

“For more than 20 years, we’ve championed the values of Real Beauty. But it’s more than just a belief or a philosophy for Dove; it’s a call to action for people across the globe to define beauty on their own terms. We are thrilled and honored to win the Grand Prix for Media at Cannes Lions, and to see how this work can positively contribute to society for years to come.” 

Other WPP Media clients to win honors in the Media Lions included The Coca-Cola Company and the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism.

In addition to this accolade, WPP Media clients have also won more than 50 other Lions thus far. Adidas, AXA, Perfetti Van Melle and Unilever brands such as Axe, Hellman’s and Vaseline were among those awarded.

“It takes a true partnership between brand and agency to create culturally impactful campaigns that drive change in attitudes and behavior. Dove and Mindshare addressed the challenge that AI creates for women and found a way to confront it. We send our congratulations to Dove for continuing the vital work of Real Beauty for a new generation,”

These wins also continue WPP Media’s impressive performance at independent award programs. In 2025 we have topped every major ranking to date: WARC Media 100 (#1 group, #1 and #2 network); Spikes Asia (#1 network) and Festival of Media Global Awards (#1 group, #1 network).