2026 Winner

With calls to defund the CBC leading up to the federal election, Friends of Canadian Media, a non-partisan organization advocating for Canadian voices across media, needed a way to shift public opinion despite being heavily outspent. The strategy hinged on a linguistic insight. The debate itself could be reduced to a two-letter difference: those calling to “fund the CBC,” and those more provocatively saying “fu** the CBC,” with each side primed to see the other’s stance as offensive. “Fu** the CBC” leaned into that tension, using what appeared to be a hostile, attention-grabbing message to draw people in, before reframing it as a call to defend public broadcasting. The campaign launched with a rally-style TV and online video spot built around the chant, then extended into targeted OOH in swing ridings alongside digital ads, influencer support and grassroots efforts, generating 19M organic impressions, 8M video views and over 100,000 website visits.

Credits

Company Credits:

Creative Agency: Wunder
Client: Friends of Canadian Media
Production/Post Production: Accomplice
Color Correction: Urban Post
Media: Jungle
PR: Middle Child

Individual Credits:

Stephen Flynn, Creative Director
Mike Postma, Creative Director
Cobie McFallon, Project Manager
Naqsh Sagar, Designer
Mike Masters, Executive Producer
Charles Wahl, Director
Rion Gonzales, Director of Photography
Amy Mielke, Editor
Scott Mackey, Sound Engineer
Emmett Rans, VFX Specialist