Day 3 at Cannes was exactly what this festival does best: equal parts inspiring, outrageous, and slightly surreal. The sun was brutal, the Croisette was buzzing, and every second person had a gelato in one hand and curiosity oozing out of the other.
The standout moment for me? The session with Reese Witherspoon, Hello Sunshine, and e.l.f. Beauty, where they dropped their new initiative, Sunnie. It’s a Gen Z board made up of actual teenagers with real decision-making power. Not in a token, ‘let’s hear from the youth’ kind of way, but real influence. It was one of those ideas that makes you wonder why we weren’t doing this already. If we’re building brands for the next generation, maybe we should stop pretending we know better and actually let them lead.
Then came the kicker: the ‘So Many Dicks’ campaign. Yes, you read that right. Turns out there are more board members named Dick than there are people of colour in leadership. Wild. The stat got a laugh, then a pause, then a lot of uncomfortable nodding. It wasn’t just clever. It was the perfect Cannes moment: insight dressed in sass but grounded in truth.
Later, I wandered over to Meta Beach, probably the most exciting (and the ice cream was delicious) stretch of the festival right now. The conversations there were all about creators, collaboration, and the shift from content to commerce. Everyone’s talking about how creative talent is finally being seen as business talent. And it’s about time.
What I loved most today was the balance. You could go from a deep panel on boardroom equity to a beach activation where someone’s stitching your name onto a tote bag. It’s chaotic in the best way. A reminder that this industry isn’t just about ideas… it’s about momentum. And right now, that momentum is clearly moving toward more inclusive leadership, and real co-creation.
Three days in, and Cannes still feels like a caffeine shot for the brain. And yes, also a lot of cardio.
