CANNES, FRANCE — Creative agency FCB Chicago proudly celebrated its Grand Prix win for Dramamine‘s “The Last Barf Bag” at Cannes Lions International Festival for Creativity‘s Health & Wellness category.
To commemorate the 75-year anniversary of the invention of the barf bag, Dramamine and FCB Chicago, in collaboration with Sunny Sixteen, 360PR+, and The Shipyard, launched a campaign to breathe new life — not barf — into the paper product with a mission to save its fellow partner in puke.
“The Last Barf Bag” explores the cultural impact of a humble yet crucial American invention made all but defunct due to Dramamine’s effectiveness in preventing unexpected upchucks. Through a new documentary, a collection of upcycled, repurposed bags, and a pop-up museum exhibition, Dramamine paid tribute to a once iconic part of our culture and history, nodding to the manufacturers, collectors, and nausea sufferers as they fill barf bags with new purpose and save their industry from irrelevance.
On the award, Andrés Ordóñez, Global Chief Creative Officer at FCB, said, “Dramamine’s campaign has completely disrupted the Health & Wellness Category. The work, rooted in a genuine insight, has transformed the mundane topic of barf bags and placed them at the heart of a dynamic conversation. It’s a perfect example of how to put brands in culture by doing something different and unexpected – the kind of ‘Never Finished’ thinking that leads to a Grand Prix and exemplifying how strategic creativity and risk-taking can redefine and elevate category norms.”
Mollie Partesotti, Chief Strategy Officer for FCB Chicago, added, “Getting people to engage in the healthcare category is tough, it’s what we call the ‘Monday night challenge of Cannes.’ But we’ve cracked it, by convincing people to spend 13 minutes watching a documentary for an over-the-counter drug. We’re thrilled with this result, which is testament to our brave clients who believed in our vision to capture this eccentric subculture and create an emotional, entertaining film that reminds people how great their product is in a fun and quirky way.”
