Britannia and Talented respond to questions around Cannes-winning campaign

At the 2025 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Indian agency Talented won two Silver and one Bronze Lion in the Outdoor & Media category for 'Nature Shapes Britannia', a campaign centered on sustainable design.

The campaign has since come under scrutiny following a LinkedIn post by Polina Zabrodskaya, an independent creative director and two-time Cannes juror, who raised questions about both the campaign’s claims and the broader awards ecosystem.

In a subsequent blog post, Zabrodskaya examined Britannia’s Annual Report (FY23–24) to evaluate the brand’s stated sustainability efforts, casting doubt on the basis of the campaign’s narrative.

When contacted by Social Samosa, Britannia and Talented issued a joint response, shared below:

“At Britannia, we always value insights from experts, and constructive criticism is crucial in helping us grow and align better with the values we wish to uphold.

As an organization, we are at the nascent stage of our sustainability journey. Our intent with this campaign was to share with our consumers that we are taking deliberate, albeit small steps toward a more sustainable future. While we understand that we are far from being a benchmark in sustainability, our goal is to be transparent about our progress and inspire collective action.

The report evaluated in the mentioned post  is the statutory document of Britannia - Annual Report. We would like to bring your attention to our Sustainability Report, published last year, which provides a detailed explanation for the observed increase in the numbers. This increase correlates with the expansion of our scale of operations and an extension of our reporting boundary. Over FY 23-24, we added three facilities to our reporting scope, including our plants in Barabanki, Tirunelveli, and our dairy plant in Ranjangaon which got completely commercialised.

Importantly, if we compare the resources used against FY22-23 operations alone, the data on water intensity, plastic and emissions remains consistent,reflecting our ongoing efforts to optimize resource efficiency. Any observed variations arise due to a shift in the production mix, which is a natural outcome of dynamic operations. Below is a detailed view:

 

We remain committed to continuous improvement. Each year, as our operations scale, we strive to be more mindful of the resources we use and the impact we create. Sustainability is not a destination but a journey, and we are dedicated to making meaningful strides along the way.”

In a year where more campaigns than ever came wrapped in the language of climate action, social justice, and ESG, the real winner might be this uncomfortable, but necessary conversation about how we define impact, and who gets to decide.

Because in 2024, credibility isn’t just a box to tick. It’s the brief.

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