Mumbai:India’s first transgender band, Y-Film's the 6 Pack Band created history by winning the coveted Cannes Grand Prix Glass Lion at the Cannes Lions Festival on Monday night.
The pop band bagged the award for its extraordinary campaign around gender rights and outreach, in collaboration with Mindshare Mumbai and Brooke Bond Red Label.
Around 30 brands competed from across the world, including four from India. Among them the 6 Pack Band was chosen as the winner for its incredible impact in battling prejudice and discrimination against the transgender community.
“From an idea that started at a traffic signal to it now picking up what is considered the ultimate benchmark for judging creativity - we at Y-Films are honoured and humbled to bring home India’s first Cannes Grand Prix Glass Lion,” Ashish Patil, Y-Films, Brand Partnerships and Talent Management, said.
Talking about why it worked, Madeline Di Nonno, head of the Glass Lions jury and CEO of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, said, “The approach was incredibly inventive, in actually creating a band and using music and some very popular experiential pop-culture entertainment, which was very significant.
“And then, backing it up with some incredible videos, which really engage consumer and speak to our humanity. It hit all the check marks that we could possibly want.”
For the category of the Grand Prix, there were four nominees from India and each of the campaigns focused on social awareness and empowerment. Yet, the 6 Pack Band, with its “Hum hain happy” campaign came out on top. This is the second international recognition for the 6 Pack Band.
Y-Films and the band won the Webby Award, the Internet’s highest honour, in the Public Service and Activism category. The jury for the Webbys comprised of actor Kevin Spacey and TV host Jimmy Kimmel among others.
So far, the 6 Pack Band has released five music videos, featuring actors Hrithik Roshan, Arjun Kapoor and singer Sonu Nigam, on the Y-Films official YouTube channel.
(With Agency input)
