Cannes Lions: A Handful of Real Winnars in PR, Promotion and Direct.

This year was the first year Cannes recognized PR's role in getting a brand message across, so PR people just about creamed themselves getting here. Even Hill & Knowlton couldn't help but say something smug about it before passing the mic to Biz Stone this afternoon.

Yeah, you guys are in the door, woo woo.

We're not gonna sit out and type the full list of trophy bait; that's what the Cannes Lions awards subsite is for. But here are the Grand Prix winners in all three categories, and a few nice PR Lion winners, too.

For PROMO: "Yubari" for Yubari Resort (Japan), by Beacon Communications/Tokyo.

I didn't really understand the beauty of this campaign until it was explained to me in full. Apparently Yubari used to be a miner town, and when the mines closed and all the miners left, the city was hurting for cash.

Beacon was enlisted to address the problem. In its research of Yubari it discovered something compelling: that its inhabitants do not divorce. Ever. For whatever reason, probably having to do with that it was damn-near deserted, marriages there maintain a 100% success rate.

Silver bullet in tow, Beacon immediately positioned Yubari as the place to insure your happily ever after. The campaign was ridiculously successful in the first year, with newlyweds angling from far and wide to visit. And that's how a small minor town became Japan's City of Love.

For DIRECT and PR: "Best Job in the World" for Tourism Queensland (Australia), by Cumminsnitro. Well-deserved -- this was truly ambitious work from an agency that was hardly on the radar before this year.

So there you have it. Now see below for some nice PR Lion notables.

"Love Distance" for Sagami Rubber by GT/Tokyo got a PR Lion:

As did "One Thousand Casmurros" by Livead/Sao Paulo for TV Globo because it was just beautifully conceptualized and executed:

And the "World's First Ephemeral Museum" by Leo Burnett Lisboa/Arc Worldwide for Diageo Portugal: