Cann’t
Overview
Every June, ad industry bigwigs pack their bags and head to the French Riviera. Lighthouse Creative built CANN’T for everyone else — a Brooklyn block party highlighting the people who make the work featured in Cannes instead of those flying out to talk about it.
Services
Experiential Marketing
Brief
Cannes Lions is the biggest week in advertising. It’s also a $50k flight-and-badge-and-yacht-club affair that only a small slice of the industry ever gets to attend.
So we asked a simple question: what would Cannes look like if it were designed for the real creatives who operate behind the scenes?
We skipped the Palais and red carpet for a block party in Dumbo. We even brought our own versions of the Cannes staples: the champagne of beers, an inflatable bounce house in place of a superyacht, and shiny party favors (read: keychain-sized toilets).
The night built up to the inaugural CANN’T Awards, which honored the categories the industry doesn’t usually celebrate — Worst Thought Leadership, Lowest ROI, Worst Use of AI, and Most Toxic Executive Energy. The Grand Prix winner took home the most coveted Grand Prix of all, specifically a 1998 Pontiac with 117k miles, fully paid off.
“Every June, it can feel like the entire industry relocates to Cannes. CANN’T is for the people actually creating the work. We wanted to build something that captures the fun, absurdity, and creative spirit of our industry, without the yacht budgets, conference badges, or airfare.”
Sam Slaughter
Co-Founder, Lighthouse Creative
The event drew 250+ attendees, 317 RSVPs, four visits from the NYPD, 7 miniature toilets delivered to award winners, and ultimately one Pontiac Grand Prix given away.
More importantly, it did what Cannes does — but without the price tag. Creatives, marketers, and agency folks who don’t normally cross paths spent an evening actually talking to each other, making connections, and even finding some new clients and collaborators the old-fashioned way.
Team
Sam Slaughter
Heather Freiser
Liza Read
Emma Swanson
Sam Dart