What started as a Cannes Lions victory parade for Brazil’s DM9 has officially turned into a reputational nosedive. On Friday, Cannes Lions revoked the Creative Data Grand Prix awarded to DM9’s “Efficient Way to Pay” campaign for Consul Appliances after concluding the case study video included AI-generated and manipulated content, used to simulate real-world events and outcomes that never actually happened.
“This breaches the Cannes Lions entry rules on factual representation and undermines the trust placed in the work by our juries and the wider community,” festival organizers said in a blistering statement. “Cannes Lions exists to celebrate creativity that is real, representative, and responsible.”
Grand Prize, Grand Deception
DM9, part of the DDB Worldwide network under Omnicom, had emerged as one of the biggest winners of the 2025 festival, with 21 Lions overall and a key role in helping DDB reclaim the Network of the Year crown.
But the cracks began to show quickly.
A whistleblower alerted Ad Age to the manipulated content, including altered footage lifted from CNN Brasil. CNN promptly filed a formal complaint with both DM9 and Consul’s parent company, Whirlpool. DM9 initially apologized, citing “errors in production and submission,” and announced the resignation of its co-president and CCO Icaro Doria earlier this week.
Now the fallout has escalated into a full Cannes Lions takedown.
Following what the festival called a “thorough investigation and review” conducted with DM9 and independent auditors, the two parties “mutually withdrew” the entry. But the language is clear: the withdrawal was the only appropriate course of action.
More Awards Pulled, Reputation in Shreds
In addition to the revoked Grand Prix, DM9 voluntarily pulled two other Cannes-winning campaigns:
- “Plastic Blood” for OKA Biotech
- “Gold = Death” for Urihi Yanomami
“All parties acknowledge that the level of legitimacy does not meet the necessary standard,” Cannes said. Translation: the integrity bar was on the floor, and even that got tripped over.
Cannes Clamps Down on AI Abuse
The scandal has already prompted structural changes at Cannes Lions. In a separate announcement, the festival unveiled new measures aimed at keeping synthetic content from hijacking award entries:
- Mandatory disclosure of AI use in any submission
- Enhanced Code of Conduct for all entrants
- Content detection tools to spot manipulated material
- A newly formed AI and Ethics adjudication committee
These rules may be arriving late—but they’re arriving loud and clear.
DM9’s AI Ethics Committee: Too Little, Too Late?
DM9 says it plans to form an internal AI Ethics Committee and implement safeguards. But in a business where trust is currency, it’s unclear how long it will take to rebuild confidence. Or if it can.
This wasn’t just a bad entry. This was a top prize, won through synthetic storytelling, in a festival that sells itself as the arbiter of global creative excellence. If the work isn’t real, the awards don’t matter. And in this case, neither the work nor the award survives.
This isn’t the first time DM9 has faced scrutiny over its festival tactics. In a 2001 Ad Age investigation titled “Ghosts of Cannes,” a Gold Lion-winning ad for Parmalat ketchup was flagged as a possible ghost ad—allegedly running only after the Cannes entry deadline, and in an obscure car magazine.
Now, with a second controversy two decades later, some are asking whether the agency has a history of pushing the envelope—or crossing the line—in the name of creative glory.
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