2025 Cannes Contenders: Dentsu APAC leaders place their picks

'Unfreeze My Rights' boldly challenges outdated fertility laws in Taiwan, giving a voice to women who have frozen their eggs but are legally denied the right to use them unless married. Through raw, real stories and a provocative faux marriage-proposal stunt on the streets, the work led by Dentsu Creative Taiwan turned personal frustration into collective reflection – igniting public debate and pushing for legal reform through petition.

Alice Chou, chief creative officer of Dentsu Creative Taiwan says: "This is a fearless example of creativity as a weapon – confronting injustice, sparking conversation, and driving cultural and legislative change."
 

'Flock' is a cinematic reminder to all mobile phone users about how they're being watched while online, brought to life by transforming surveillance cameras into flocks of pigeons, bats and gulls. What might seem as an innocuous private activity is cleverly shown as anything but, through the cinematic storytelling here, which lets users know that their choice of online browsers matters (it promotes Safari) when it comes to privacy. 

Dan Paris, chief product & growth officer at Dentsu APAC says: "Apple's consistent and single-minded focus on privacy and security as their differentiator cues compelling work with each instalment beating the previous one. And then there's the craft, from cinematic touches and a music score that's just so clever."
 

This hilarious five-minute campaign film reimagines the iconic Colonel Sanders as a neighbourhood 'Uncle' selling rice bowls in Thailand, in a bid to present KFC as a more local, affordable, Thai-style comfort food alternative for everyday Thai people. In the film, the KFC lunch wins over even the choosiest of people whose appetites are incredibly hard to satisfy.  

Mike Felix, chief creative officer at Dentsu Creative Aotearoa says: "If there is a lethal dose of advertising someone can take, I’m going to find out what it is. This year I’m judging both Branded Entertainment at One Show and Film at Cannes.

It seems so straight forward when you lay the ingredients out on the dining room table: An insight the audience will connect with, expressed in a way that grabs your attention. Yet it’s rarer than a fork in the office kitchen. I’m putting forward this film that has to use humour, a good insight and a brave client as their only tools to break through the attention wall that looms over our industry.

Every year Thailand shows up with something that demonstrates such a confident handle on humour it makes me take notes. The team behind this one was not afraid to be a bit longer and back themselves that the comedy and cultural insight would pull the viewers in and set the stage for the product better than having the product appear in the first two frames would do."