The Colin and Samir Show
The Colin and Samir Show

CANNES DAY 1: Anthpo, Ramp, and The Best Ads of the Year

June 22, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

The first day of Cannes Lions 2026 made one thing clear: the advertising industry’s center of gravity has shifted from the 30-second spot to the social feed, from the hero asset to the reaction, and from the committee to the singular creative voice. Colin and Samir hosted their daily brief from the LinkedIn Lounge on the Croisette, speaking with creator-turned-agency-founder Anthpo, Ramp’s director of creative experimentation Kendall Hope Tucker, and Adobe’s CMO Laura Belag. The through-line across all three conversations was the same: in a hyper-fragmented media environment, speed, authenticity, and a willingness to experiment matter more than production value or institutional polish.

The Best Ads of 2026 Are Reactive, Not Prestigious

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What you'll learn

  • 1 (01:25) **Cannes Lions intro and context** - Hosts explain the event as the "Super Bowl for creators" and largest advertising conference
  • 2 (04:04) **Episode preview** - Three main topics: creators at Cannes, capturing attention in fragmented media, and guest interviews
  • 3 (04:38) **Media abundance and fragmentation** - Stats on daily uploads across platforms and shift to interest-based "hyper-personalized" feeds
  • 4 (05:46) **Best ads of the year discussion** - McDonald's reactive campaigns around CEO comments and Backrooms
  • 5 (07:00) **Nike Knicks ad breakdown** - Reactionary storytelling tied to a monocultural sports moment with simple, emotional execution
  • 6 (08:18) **Most expensive ad in history** - Chanel's 2004 Nicole Kidman film and why that model no longer works
  • 7 (10:04) **Additional standout ads** - Convene's real-time logo reaction during NYC parade as example of conversation participation

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Live from the LinkedIn Lounge at Cannes Lions, we break down why traditional advertising is broken and what's actually working today.

Spending millions on a single, polished TV commercial doesn't work anymore—it just gets lost in the noise. We sit down with creator Anthpo, Ramp’s Kendall Hope Tucker, and Adobe’s Lara Balazs to look at how real brands are catching people's attention by being entertaining and acting like creators themselves.

What we cover:

  • The Power of Stunts: Why Ramp puts Kevin from The Office in a glass box, and how they pull it off without a corporate committee ruining the idea.

  • The New Brand Deal: Why creators are moving past basic shoutouts and actually helping big companies build their entire strategy.

  • Moving Fast with AI: How Adobe uses new tools to handle the boring parts of making videos and images so teams can focus on the big ideas.

  • The End of Google Search: Why people are looking for things inside AI chatbots instead of search engines, and what that means for brands.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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