Structure

The categories at Cans Fest are broken up into two, written below. Each idea can submit for one category from each section.

The Traditional Categories:

This is stuff you’re generally used to seeing. Best Whatever Media and so on.

The Wild Card Categories:

This is the more fun shit.

The Traditional Categories

Film I’d Actually Want to Watch

• Best film of the year. Could be OLV, could be social, could be actually screened in theaters. If it’s a real-ass film you made for cheap, let’s see it.

TV Spot I Wouldn’t Mute

• Best TV spot. How did you make it for cheap? Why is it good? You get it.

OOH I Might Take a Picture Of

• Was your cheaply-made OOH so sick that people actually stopped and took pictures of it? OOH yeah!

Best IRL Thing

• Activation, outdoor stunt, experiential something. If people could actually see, hear, smell, touch, or taste IRL, we wanna see it.

The Last Good Print Idea

• They say “print is dead,” prove em wrong. Show us why print rules. Could be magazine, newspaper, something unique, as long as it was printed.

Best-Looking

• This is our design award. Show us your best design work and why/how it was done uniquely-cheaply.

Best Social

• Broad category, we know. But that’s the fun of Cans. Any and all social ideas go here. Did you make a great account? Do something viral? Gained 8bajillion followers for free randomly? Yes.

Above the Influence

• Best influencer idea. Let’s see it.

Least Cheesy PSA

• PSAs can be great. But a lot of times, they’re not. Let’s see your great one. What made it great? And cheap?

Ultimate Intern Idea

• The real MVPs of the office. Submit any idea that came from an intern and make sure they get max credit.

Tintanium Can: Best Cheap Idea of the Year

• The top dog. The big one. This award will go to the best and cheapest idea from any category.

The Wild Card Categories

Glass Can: Best Recycled, or Recycling, Idea

• This award will go to either a great recycled idea (an idea or asset or element that was reused and made great), or a great recycling idea (an idea that promotes recycling)

Any Budget But I Didn’t Want To Pay Cannes Entrance Fee

• Cannes is, like, way expensive. This award will go to any great idea that wasn’t submitted to Cannes. It can be of any budget.

I Made An Actual Difference

• Advertising loves to pretend it’s making a difference when it isn’t. This award will go to an idea that made an actual, real-life difference in the world.

The Cansas Award

• Best idea from Kansas. Could be an agency from Kansas. Could just be, like, you’re from Kansas. Whatever, just tell us why you deserve it.

Whose Idea Was This???

• Best idea by a non-creative. Could be accounts, project management, finance, or…dare we say…a client.

Cheap Shot

• Best idea that takes a dig at another brand. Don’t be mean…unless it’s funny. Then be mean.

Can of the Year

• Best ad for a canned product. Beverage, paint, worms, you name it. Just make it good and able to be stored neatly on a shelf.

Unbriefable

• Best proactive, unbriefed idea of the year. Tell us how it happened and how many clients you had to convince it was a good idea.

Let’s Get Personal

• No brand? No problem. This award is for the best side project of the year, IRL work that was made without a brand.

Spec-tacular

• This is for the students. Let’s see your best spec idea, meaning work that wasn’t produced IRL but is still great. Can be branded or unbranded.