New Zealand ‘Best Place To Have Herpes’ Ad Crowned At The Top At Cannes Lions

Image via Motion Sickness / The New Zealand Herpes Foundation

New Zealand isn’t just famous for its sheep, sauvignon blanc, and sweeping landscapes—it now has a new claim to fame: being the best place in the world to have herpes.

That’s not an insult. It’s the punchline of a bold health campaign that’s just scooped two top accolades (Grand Prix for Health and Grand Prix for Good) at the 2025 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, thanks to its adept ability to turn an awkward topic into a global conversation starter. 

Spearheaded by the New Zealand Herpes Foundation, the Make New Zealand the Best Place in the World to Have Herpes initiative was launched on Global Herpes Awareness Day in October 2024, satirizing travel advertisements and specking them with celebrity cameos. An interactive online ‘Herpes Destigmatization Course’ helps to chip away at the silence surrounding the virus. Sir Graham Henry, the former All Blacks coach, fronted a faux tourism video lamenting everything from sheep population stats to national embarrassment, before declaring herpes as New Zealand’s next badge of honor.

Backed by Auckland-based creative agency Motion Sickness and Sydney production house FINCH, the campaign was designed not just to go viral, but to genuinely shift public perception. Participants could track stigma levels via a global leaderboard, while cultural figures like Sir Ashley Bloomfield and boxer Mea Motu lent credibility to its cause. The tone walked a fine line between irreverence and information, using parody not to belittle the virus but to reiterate how isolating the shame around it can be.

Image via Motion Sickness / The New Zealand Herpes Foundation

Well, that calculated risk paid off. Within eight weeks of its release, the campaign reportedly generated over 22 million impressions and more than 10,000 hours of educational content were watched. Most crucially, internal surveys showed 76% of viewers felt more comfortable discussing the topic. As Claire Hurst of the Herpes Foundation explained, shifting the joke away from the person and onto the virus helped loosen the grip of silence and stigma.

Jury president David Ohana, representing the United Nations Foundation, praised its willingness to tackle a taboo with boldness and wit. Unlike many health campaigns that lean on fear or statistics, this one leaned into humanity. It was baaaallsy, and clearly effective.

[via BBC, Campaign Brief New Zealand, The Guardian, RNZ, Medical Marketing + Media, cover image via Motion Sickness / The New Zealand Herpes Foundation]