The Monkeys take home Titanium Grand Prix in Cannes for Tuvalu: The First Digital Nation
"It is an idea that needed to happen and should live on far beyond any of us”
Aussie agency The Monkeys, part of Accenture Song, has taken home the Cannes Lions Grand Prix for their work with the Pacific Island nation of Tuvalu.
The campaign showcased Tuvalu facing the dangers of a climate catastrophe and inaction, which is threatening the extinction of the Pacific Island nation.
The Dan Wieden Titanium Lions – won by The Monkeys – honours the provocative, boundary-pushing work that marks a new direction for the industry.
Titanium Lions Jury President, David Droga said that in order for the nation to keep its border, sovereignty and rights, the nation must completely reorient the rules and laws of what it is to be recognized as a nation on the global stage.
"This is far more than a creative or tech idea. It’s not even about a disposable execution. It is about recognition, policy, and safeguarding GDP.
"It is also about creating new precedents for dozens of other countries facing a similar future. This work was the highest-scored entry from day one of the prejudging, to the very last vote on the Grand Prix on the final day. It is an idea that needed to happen and should live on far beyond any of us.”
Nearly 40% of Tuvalu's capital district regularly gets submerged in high tides and if no drastic measures are taken, rising sea levels will swallow the archipelago before the close of the century.
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As a result of the threat to the island, Simon Kofe, Tuvalu's minister for Justice, Communication and Foreign Affairs stated last year in a speech delivered from the metaverse that, “As our physical land vanishes, we are left with no alternative but to pioneer the concept of a digital nation. Islands like ours cannot withstand the rapid escalation of temperatures, rising sea levels, and droughts. Therefore, we will recreate them virtually.”
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