Cannes Contenders: Purpose meets punchline in Wondrlab’s 2025 playbook

Wondrlab’s Cannes 2025 line-up isn’t chasing applause—it’s chasing action. With three culturally sharp campaigns—Bill of Pride, The Right Sign, and One More Tika—the agency is turning its entries into statements, not just submissions.

Each piece takes on a pressing issue: from corporate pinkwashing to disability inclusion to canine vaccination. But this isn’t purpose-washing in fancy packaging.

These campaigns are engineered to stir dialogue, shift attitudes, and spark tangible change. Whether it’s tallying social media performativwity into a “bill,” turning rap signs into Indian Sign Language, or repurposing a 3,000-year-old dog festival to fight rabies, Wondrlab is clearly using creativity as more than a communications tool—it’s a catalyst. As the industry descends on the Croisette, these entries reflect a growing Cannes truth: great work doesn’t just move hearts, it moves the needle.

Campaign: Bill of Pride: Holding Brands Accountable Beyond June

Brands: 6 Degrees Diversity Counsel, Keshav Suri Foundation, The Humsafar Trust and UnGender

Bill of Pride, backed by the Keshav Suri Foundation, 6 Degrees Diversity Council, and Ungender, flips the script on corporate Pride. Instead of rainbow-washing and hollow hashtags, it sends brands a personalised “invoice”—not for donations, but for real accountability.

This tongue-in-cheek bill is pegged to the brand’s own Pride Month engagement stats and lays out specific next steps: think LGBTQIA+ hiring, inclusive HR policies like same-sex partner benefits, and internal sensitisation sessions. The message is clear—visibility without action isn’t allyship, and this bill doesn’t come with an easy opt-out.

Campaign: The Right Sign: Making sign language mainstream through rap culture

Brands: VerSe Innovation, Signing Hands Foundation, and Lucifer Music

In a first-of-its-kind remix, VerSe Innovation, Signing Hands Foundation, and Lucifer Music teamed up to swap swagger for substance in Indian rap. Their campaign, The Right Sign, nudged artists like Indeep Bakshi, Enkore, and V-Town Chronicles to drop gang signs and flash Indian Sign Language (ISL) instead.

The result? India’s inaugural mainstream rap videos interpreted in ISL—amplifying inclusion without missing a beat. Alongside the tracks, they rolled out a 40-phrase ISL tutorial to get fans signing too. It’s not just a visual language lesson—it’s a cultural mic drop for accessibility in pop culture.

Campaign: One More Tika: Turning ritual into rabies prevention

Brand: Pawfect Foods

One More Tika cleverly turned a cultural celebration into a public health push. Launched with Pawfect Foods during Kukur Tihar—the 3,000-year-old Nepali festival where dogs are honoured with a vermillion “tika”—the campaign played on the dual meaning of “tika” in Hindi (which also refers to a vaccine). This linguistic overlap powered a rabies awareness drive that went beyond symbolism.

Instead of just marking dogs with reverence, they vaccinated over 5,000 of them across India—taking on a disease that accounts for a third of global fatalities in the country. A ritual reimagined, with real-world impact.