The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2025
Havas Costa Rica's 'Lessons of Shame' — Campaign couldn't verify the $73M claim
Jul 2025: Havas Costa Rica's Cannes-winning 'Lessons of Shame' for World Vision had results Campaign US could not verify; Cannes tightened its rules.
Havas Costa Rica · World Vision Costa Rica · 2025-07-10
What happened
'Lessons of Shame', created by Havas Costa Rica for World Vision Costa Rica, won a Gold and a Silver Lion in Brand Experience & Activation at Cannes Lions 2025. The campaign saw a protest of around 20 students outside Costa Rica's Legislative Assembly.
Campaign US investigated after a tip and could not verify the results the agency claimed: a $73M increase in the education budget, the protest halting a budget cut, and four presidential candidates adding education reform to their platforms.
The $73M figure did not match the year's actual budget increase of about $22.8M. Havas declined further comment and World Vision issued only a low-key statement. The same morning, Cannes announced a new integrity policy — including up to a three-year ban, revoking awards, for misrepresenting a case.
Why it happened
- Award cases are judged on claimed results, so an unverifiable, oversized figure is the award's own weak point.
- The headline number ($73M) was more than three times the real budget increase, inviting a fact-check.
- The case was presented as a protest success, but the verification could not tie the outcome to the campaign's actions.
The lesson
In the awards economy the case study is the product — and a headline result that cannot be verified turns the top prize into a liability for the whole industry.
Aftermath
Campaign US ran the investigation and published its findings; Havas declined to comment and World Vision gave a low-key response. Cannes announced a new integrity policy the same day, promising up to three-year bans and award revocation for misrepresented cases.
Sources
spotted an error? The club wants to know.
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