Cannes— the Olympics of advertising. A high-profile whirlwind of international ad stars vying for gold and having crazy parties.

This year, our boys Carson Ting and Justin Li are in Cannes for their work at the National Advertising Awards on a campaign for Smirnoff Flavoured Vodka. They're sending periodic snapshots of their adventures while we chronicle the rest from afar.

Day 4: Left to our own devices

The Lions Film shortlist came out today, and BBDO's got five Skittles spots shortlisted in Internet Film, putting them at the head of the Canadian Film pack. Go Canada!

With Carson off to St-Tropez, Justin had this to relate of his last day in Cannes:I sat here.I ate this.I saw this dog.I walked down this street.
I thought about life.
Day 3: It keeps on rolling

The latest from "foreign correspondent" Justin Li:

"We saw Pharrell Williams talk on the connection between brands and music. He arrived in Cannes via mega-yacht. Google it. Seriously.

"Checked out the print and outdoor shortlist gallery, which was incredibly inspiring. Highlight was seeing Rethink's work up against the best in the world.

"Attended the awards gala for Radio and Out-of-Home— the award-winning work made us all kinda of goosebumpy. Canada was surprisingly shut out.

"Then we hit up a whole bunch of beach parties and watched the Friendly Fires play. Jo from Holiday Films and Chiloh from Untitled were our lovely hosts.

"Justin has now officially consumed 4–5% of the entire Cannes panini supply. After some sun, Carson's translucent skin is now a light eggshell colour. It's lovely." Day 2: Report from the Trenches

Justin has this to say about his time so far at Cannes:

"We've heard some amazing speakers: Malcom Gladwell on the importance of being third, not first, and Ali Ali, CD of Elephant Cairo, on how his agency survived the revolution in Egypt. We've also hung out with some terrific Canadians: Paul Little, Paul Lavoie, and we've been well taken care of by Paul Macot from Apollo Studios and Ashley from Relish."

We can also report that Carson's camera broke (if you know Ting, this is super sad!) and Justin has eaten 26 paninis in two days. (That guy. Such a go-getter.)

In other news, the Radio, Media and Outdoor winners are announced today. Fingers crossed!Day 1 of Cannes: shortlists for Radio, Press, Media and Outdoor announced

Rethink is shortlisted for three (!) pieces:

Radio
Children of the Street Society, Anonymous

Outdoor
Playland, Megaphone
Playland, Air Horn

The winners of these categories are announced on Wednesday. More shortlists to follow.View of the beach. From Justin Li.

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