Unilever's Dove ad flies home with top prize

By Gavin Haycock

CANNES, France (Reuters) - A product-less commercial questioning perceptions of beauty that started as a viral video on the Internet won the top trophy at the advertising industry's version of the Oscars on Saturday night.

The Evolution ad landed a Grand Prix best commercial award ahead of a Coca-Cola videogame and Pfizer Viagra commercial, which both picked up Gold Lion trophies at the industry's biggest annual awards ceremony.

The Evolution ad was created by the Toronto office of advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather for Anglo-Dutch consumer products group Unilever.

"It is interesting that this particular piece of film actually started as a viral video on the Internet," said Bob Scarpelli, who headed the 22-member voting jury.

"It maybe is indicative of the times we are in and the way our industry is changing. The way we are communicating with people has changed and will continue to change," he told a press conference in Cannes announcing the winners.

Unilever's win follows last year's success with a Guinness ad created by the London office of Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, a division of the Omnicom Group. That ad was built around a campaign called "Noitulove" - evolution spelled in reverse.

The Unilever Evolution ad, which also picked up a Grand Prix trophy in the online digital communications category, uses time lapse to show an ordinary-looking woman worked over by make-up artists, hairdressers, lighting and digital retouching to quickly become a billboard model - ultimately asking the question: How have we so distorted our notions of beauty?

The short digital film was created to encourage girls to participate in Dove-sponsored "real beauty" workshops in conjunction with the brand's self-esteem fund.