Bestads Best TV / Film of the Week: ‘Catch Me If You Cannes’ via Zulu Alpha Kilo, Toronto

Each week Bestads showcases standout global advertising work as reviewed by a top international creative director or team. This week’s film of the week is ‘Catch Me If You Cannes’ via Zulu Alpha Kilo, Toronto.

The film was selected by this week’s guest judge Roisin Keown, Founder and Executive Creative Director at The Brill Building, Ireland.

Says Keown: “Okay, let’s talk. Should we acknowledge that by far the funniest – and best scripted, acted and produced – humour here is the ad without a client?

“Is that cheating? It’s not cheating in the way a left-handed opening mango chutney as a Cannes Lions winning innovation is (I roared laughing at how well that skewers too many Innovation contenders) and perhaps the point needs to be made so here goes… Winner: Zulu Alpha Kilo PSA ‘Catch Me If You Can’.”

In an industry obsessed with awards, some will go to any lengths to win. Once again, Zulu Alpha Kilo (Z.A.K.) is holding up a mirror to that madness with the hilarious release of “Catch Me If You Cannes,” a follow-up to their 2022 satire “Left-Handed Mango Chutney.” Premiering at Strategy’s Agency of the Year competition in Toronto, the film was part of the show’s tradition of shortlisted agencies creating self-promo videos. Z.A.K. has often used this opportunity to challenge the industry’s sacred cows and “Catch Me If You Cannes” is no exception.

The film opens inside a high-security prison, where hardened criminals sit in a therapy circle led by a weary counsellor. One inmate admits to embezzling millions from a kid’s charity, another confesses to starting a cult that drained his followers’ life savings, and a third boasts about scamming seniors out of their pensions. Then Jacob, a chief creative officer, nervously shares that he faked a case video for a Left-handed Mango Chutney, referencing the original video from 2022. He admits to faking the quotes, the footage, the results, even the client. The room falls silent. One inmate lunges at Jacob before being restrained by a guard. Even the counsellor, whose uncle once worked in advertising, is so appalled that she orders Jacob to be “locked in the hole.”

VIEW THE SPOT

Click here to read Keown’s full review.

Want to see your work featured? Enter the weekly Bestads judging for a chance to have your work showcased in front of an international audience of advertising professionals. It’s free to upload ads and campaigns – and all ad formats are welcome.

Submit your latest work here.