Truth Be Told: Inside the Conversation on Brand Safety and the Future of News @ Cannes Lions 2025

In June during Cannes Lions, we created a space for publishers, technology leaders, and industry experts to gather for an unfiltered roundtable on one of the most persistent challenges in our ecosystem: brand safety and the monetization of news.

The session, Cannes Truth Be Told, was produced by Unplugged Collective and Beeler.Tech, with support from Rise, Seedtag, Freestar, and Mobian. The goal was simple but uncommon: get decision-makers and operators into the same room, off the record, and talking honestly about what is actually happening inside their businesses.

This wasn’t a panel with scripted talking points. It was a closed-door exchange where people shared real frustrations, practical solutions, and a willingness to challenge long-held assumptions.

What we heard in Cannes

The discussion revealed just how complex — and sometimes counterproductive — current brand safety practices have become. Below are some of the clearest truths that emerged, along with the words of the people in the room.

1. Fear is driving decisions more than facts

FOFO — Fear Of Finding Out — came up repeatedly.

“No one’s ever been promoted for a good blocklist, but people have been fired for a bad one.”

2. The news audience cannot be replaced

Marketers sometimes believe they can find the same high-value audiences in safer, non-news environments.

“Why would I advertise in news when I can reach the same audience elsewhere without the risk? …You can’t. That’s the problem.”

3. Performance is the strongest argument

Data from multiple publishers shows news outperforming on CTR, CPA, and brand lift.

“News performs. And we need to prove that over and over again until it sinks in.”

4. The gap is in execution

Leaders may say they support journalism, but outdated keyword filters and blocklists at the operational level can erase that intent.

“Most CEOs think they advertise in news. Most of them don’t.”

5. Sellers need to be better armed

Sales teams often avoid the brand safety topic entirely because they don’t feel equipped.

“Most sellers wait until it hits the ad ops desk. We need to arm them on slide one.”

6. Technology can now handle nuance

Contextual tools have advanced to the point where they can distinguish between sensationalism, tragedy, and responsible journalism.

“The tech is finally catching up to the editorial nuance. We can now separate sensationalism from substance.”

Calls to Action from the Room

By the end of the session, the conversation had moved from identifying the problem to shaping actionable next steps. Among the most resonant:

• Flip the script: Replace blocklists with “missed opportunity” reports to quantify value left on the table.

• Ask the CEO question: “Do we advertise in news? If not, why not?”

• Standardize the message: Everyone — publishers, SSPs, DSPs, and sales teams — should be delivering the same line: News is brand-safe, performant, and essential.

• Equip sellers early: Include proof points and brand safety framing in the opening slide of every pitch.

• Educate collaboratively: Bring buyers and publishers into the same sessions to demystify keyword blocking.

• Involve newsrooms: Editors can speak directly to the standards and safeguards in place, reframing perceptions of risk.

• Use real-world examples: Challenge the absurdity of current blocklists, from “Death of a Salesman” to common sports terms, to make the cost of over-blocking tangible.

Why this conversation still matters today

We did not expect the industry to change course in 60 days. Brand safety and news monetization have been debated for years, and change happens incrementally. What matters is that the points raised in Cannes are not isolated — they are echoed in the industry’s own headlines since June.

In just the past two months:

• Mark Penn, Stagwell CEO argued that avoiding news is costing advertisers measurable return, with some campaigns showing three times the ROAS of non-news environments.

• Press Gazette reported that outdated keyword filters blocked large portions of Olympic and Euros coverage, removing safe terms like “Paris” and “shootout.”

• Business Insider highlighted regulatory scrutiny on how brand safety can be weaponized, pushing agencies and advertisers toward brand suitability.

• Warc shared findings from Reach’s Mantis showing that nearly half of Super Bowl content was blocked by list-based systems, while AI deemed less than five percent actually unsafe.

These stories reinforce the themes from Cannes: performance is being sacrificed unnecessarily, technology exists to solve the problem, and the gap lies in how the industry executes.

Has it sparked action yet?

The honest answer is that change is hard to measure this soon. Conversations like Truth Be Told don’t flip a switch, but they can create alignment and urgency among the people in the room. The follow-up comes in how often those attendees reference the discussion internally, change a sales deck, test new technology, or challenge a blocklist.

Our role in revisiting it now is to keep those actions top of mind, to ensure the energy from Cannes doesn’t fade, and to keep connecting the dots between conversations like this and the broader movement toward smarter, more balanced brand safety practices.

Keeping the momentum alive

Cannes Truth Be Told worked because it gathered the right mix of people and created a space where they could speak openly and listen fully. That approach is how we believe complex industry problems get solved — one frank, well-curated conversation at a time.

At Unplugged Collective, we build spaces where these kinds of discussions can happen and lead to real next steps. If you want to bring a conversation like this to life, one that cuts through spin and moves people toward solutions, we should talk.