Nigerian director wins five Cannes Lions awards for Vaseline ad

Popular Nigerian film director, Ibidunni Oladayo, has won five awards for his TV commercial for Unilever’s Vaseline at the 2026 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

In a statement shared with PUNCH Online on Sunday, he said the commercial, produced by Ama Psalmist Visuals, received one Gold award in the Social & Creator category and four Bronze awards in Media, Health & Wellness, Brand Experience, and Social & Creator, Healthcare categories.

The campaign aimed to change the negative stereotype of the “Nigerian Prince” scam while promoting the authentication of Vaseline products in Nigeria. It also did well commercially, getting over 2.8 million organic views in just 10 days and about 5,400 conversions during that time.

Oladayo explained how the project started. He said the creative brief was very appealing.

“It was the story. It was about rewriting the infamous ‘Nigerian Prince’ scam story and juxtaposing it with authenticating Vaseline products,” Oladayo stated.

He highlighted that the simple message and the dedication of the production team were key to the campaign’s success. He said the award-winning project worked alongside Leo Burnett Singapore, MSL Singapore, and Persuasion Communications London.

This latest win adds to Oladayo’s reputation as one of Nigeria’s top TV commercial directors. His work includes campaigns for many major brands like Samsung, MTN, Malta Guinness, DStv, MIVA University, Kellogg’s, Oraimo, Oppo, and Goldberg, among others.

Speaking about the importance of this recognition, Oladayo said the five Cannes Lions show that African storytelling can stand tall globally.

“For Ibidunni, the five Cannes Lions are confirmation of something he has believed for a while: that African stories, told with enough honesty and craft, can compete anywhere in the world,” he said.

He also mentioned that with Ama Psalmist Visuals growing its reputation through local and international projects, this Cannes recognition is another significant step in what promises to be a long creative journey.

“What started out as an attempt to rewrite a narrative and carve a new perception for a country and a brand has turned out to be a five-time Cannes Lions winner. But it’s nothing close to serendipity.”