LePub head creative, co-president departs following Cannes scandal

The CCO and co-president of LePub São Paulo has left the agency following the scrutiny of its Cannes Lion-winning campaign, Followers Store.

Felipe Cury first joined the LePub network in 2022 after being hired to co-found the São Paulo office. Before his time there, he worked in advertising in different cities across Europe, gaining notoriety through his work that earned over 200 awards, including a Titanium Lion in 2019.

His time with the Publicis-owned agency concluded in July, according to Brazil-based media outlets. This allegedly occurred right after the agency announced it would take disciplinary action as a result of its internal investigation into Followers Store.

Cury did not respond to Campaign’s request for comment and has removed his work experience on LinkedIn. LePub declined to comment on the matter.

Created for New Balance and São Paulo FC, Followers Store won a Bronze Lion in this year’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The campaign delivered geo-targeted push notifications around São Paulo FC’s bus, claiming that fans were enabled to purchase exclusive jerseys as a result. It also claimed that there was widespread media coverage and 45,000 pre-orders made.

Soon after, Brazilian journalist Demétrio Vecchioli published an investigation into the campaign on LinkedIn, alleging that key data and endorsements in the case were unverifiable or misleading. He also said to have found no evidence that the presale happened at all, nor did some of the cited social media outlets even cover the campaign. Additionally, the influencer content made for the campaign may have been edited.

When Campaign asked LePub if the agency would withdraw the entry from Cannes Lions, a spokesperson declined to comment.

Followers Store wasn’t the only Cannes Lion-winning campaign that faced scrutiny. Havas Costa Rica’s Lessons of Shame campaign, which won one Gold Lion and one Silver Brand Experience and Activation Lion, alleged a number of results and impacts that were unverifiable. Africa DDB’s One Second Ads campaign, in which one version won the Grand Prix in the Audio & Radio Lions, had AB InBev apologize for its boasting of avoiding music royalties. DM9’s Efficient Way to Pay campaign, which won a Grand Prix, was mutually withdrawn by both the agency and Cannes Lions.

As a result of the controversial submissions, Cannes Lions introduced additional measures to further validate future submissions, in which agencies can be banned from participating for up to three years if they submit “willfully false or misleading work” starting next year.