New Zealand ad campaign to make country ‘best place in the world to have herpes’ wins top prize at Cannes Lions

Retro-style tourism video fronted by a former All Blacks coach won the Cannes Lions grand prix for good award

A public health advertisement that campaigned to make New Zealand “the best place in the world to have herpes” has won a top prize at the Cannes Lions – one of world’s most prestigious advertising awards.

The campaign, launched by the New Zealand Herpes Foundation in October last year, attempts to challenge decades of entrenched stigma around genital herpes – a condition that affects up to 80% of New Zealanders at some point in their lives, the foundation said.