Motion Sickness + FINCH win Cannes Grand Prix for Good for New Zealand Herpes Foundation
“Make New Zealand the Best Place in the World to Have Herpes” for the New Zealand Herpes Foundation via Motion Sickness + FINCH has won a second Grand Prix for Good at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2025.
The campaign’s overwhelming success took the tally to 6 Cannes Lion awards including a gold in Film Lion:
GRAND PRIX FOR GOOD
LIONS HEALTH GRAND PRIX FOR GOOD
GOLD LION – HEALTH & WELLNESS
GOLD LION – FILM, CULTURE & CONTEXT
BRONZE LION – SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
BRONZE LION -ENTERTAINMENT, USE OF HUMOUR
“As if this week couldn’t get any madder… a second Grand Prix,” says Sam Stuchbury, Executive Creative Director at Motion Sickness.
“Truly floored by this historic win for Aotearoa. We’ve put our country, and herpes, on the world stage and shown what creativity, craft, and boldness can do.
“We have grand ambitions for Motion Sickness – ambitions not simply measured by headcounts, handshakes or long lunches, but by letting our work prove our intention. We just want to apply human creativity to real problems, on behalf of brands, people, countries, whoever. The world isn’t short on problems today. Hopefully, the creative industry isn’t short on answers.”
‘The Best Place In The World To Have Herpes’ featured a first-of-its-kind ‘Herpes Destigmatisation Course’, a global ranking system underpinned by live data, and plenty of irreverent humour. The campaign took an unusual approach to reducing herpes stigma – framing it as the key to restoring New Zealand’s diminished sense of national pride.
Judy John, Global Chief Creative Officer, Edelman, Global, and Jury President, said: “Brave, outrageously creative, wildly ambitious and educational are not the usual combination of words you will find to describe the Grand Prix for Good. The title of the campaign ‘Make New Zealand the Best Place to have Herpes’ by The New Zealand Herpes Foundation says it all. Often overlooked, this campaign played into their national pride, to unite the county in eliminating the herpes stigma as a way to restore our self-esteem, reclaim international glory, and boost patriotism.”