Emily Hare from Contagious Magazine writes about one of her favorite potential Lions… Nike’s inspiring “Chalkbot” effort.

Nike’s Chalkbot – part of the brand’s Livestrong campaign – makes the Wieden+Kennedy effort a serious Cannes contender. The Chalkbot brings the real world and the internet together in a wonderful, lo-fi way, expanding on the Tour de France tradition of chalking messges of encouragement for riders onto the race route by allowing people to submit messages of hope and support via Twitter and SMS . The giant Chalkbot robot then printed onto the French hillside in a lasting tribute to the Livestrong cancer charity, and its cyclist patron Lance Armstrong. The idea that you can take part in a real world event no matter where you are based is a very powerful call to engagement with any project.

Chalkbot makes wonderful use of Deeplocal’s ‘Gutter Tech’ idea, using lo-fi technology and existing social networking platforms to come up with extraordinary designs and tangible results. The Chalkbot submissions were photographed and geotagged, then sent back to the person who suggested them, so they could be shared and treasured.

As anyone who’s seen our Cannes in a Van presentation will know, we think that the Livestrong campaign is a strong Titanium contender that transcends the world of advertising to offer something that is genuinely interactive, inclusive and emotive.