“I finally made it to Cannes!” roared Jimmy Fallon as he vigorously stepped on stage at his Cannes Lions keynote. The event was held at the Palais des Festivals’ Debussy Theater, an iconic venue where movies premiere during the Cannes Film Festival.
In typical “Tonight Show” fashion, Fallon started off with a monologue that made the packed auditorium break into continuous laugher before he even sat down.
“I’m feeling great,” he said, standing on stage next to “Today” host Savannah Guthrie. “We just double-taped ‘The Tonight Show’ yesterday. I got on a flight. It was a seven-and-a-half hour flight. There was a two-hour delay. Then there was a one-hour flight, then a 45-minute drive. I’m ready to party. Let’s go!”
He said he spent his first night in the old town at Maschou restaurant, which soon turned into a dance spot. He was even photographed trying (and failing) to recreate the iconic lift scene from “Dirty Dancing” with someone he didn’t know.
“They started playing great music. They were playing Michael Jackson. They were playing The Pointer Sisters. Then they played ‘(I’ve Had) the Time of My Life,’ and I was jumping in a stranger’s arms,” he said. “We had a full-on dance party last night. It was unbelievable. Then we finished the dance off and someone gave me a card. They go, ‘Hey, we’re from 7-Eleven, and we love you.’ I go, ‘Wow, already we’re doing business deals!’”
Fallon made his way to Cannes to tease his next show, “On Brand,” a new NBC marketing competition series which he’ll be hosting and executive producing. Premiering in the fall, the show will see contestants pitching marketing ideas to big brands. As Fallon put it, the winner will get the “bragging rights of being the innovator of the year,” and a cash prize of $100,000.
“We made it happen, and we got eight brands!” he said. These include Dunkin’, KitchenAid, Pillsbury and Southwest Airlines. For Season 2, Fallon said they’re aiming to lure 10 brands.
“It hasn’t even aired yet. As we were announcing the show, one of our contestants had this idea for a podcast of his dad’s cooking. He’s filming it now!” Fallon said. “He’s already thought of this idea and made it into a real thing. Things are changing and happening. It’s all happening in real time, and I’m happy to be part of this.”
The basic idea for the show, Fallon said, is to “pull back the curtain” and “give brands an opportunity” to show that “they’re not just a business — they’re people. And what do they believe in, and what are they looking for?”
“It’s so beyond product placement,” he continued. “It’s actually entertaining and fun. We’re giving you 40 minutes as opposed to a 30-second spot. It’s not an integration. I’m talking about your brand for a whole hour.”
Fallon was joined on stage by Bozoma Saint John, the marketing executive turned entrepreneur who is now on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” and was recruited by Fallon to be a judge and mentor for “On Brand.”
The idea of bringing Saint John on board for “On Brand” came from his wife, Fallon said. “I remember we were looking for a co-host, and my wife said, ‘You should get Bozoma from “Real Housewives.”‘ I go, ‘I don’t think I’m looking for that type of person. I don’t know what ‘Real Housewives’ is. I wasn’t caught up. Then I watched and I saw her resume and I’m like, ‘Oh, my gosh. Dude, I mean PepsiCo, Uber, Netflix. Beyoncé! You’re in the Marketing Hall of Fame! I go, ‘You’re overqualified for this job. You’ve legitimized this show,’” Fallon said. “As soon as we met on Zoom, we hit it off.”
Saint John was equally enthusiastic. “I was like, If I don’t get this show, I’m going to just harm the person who gets it,” she joked.
Fallon also talked about “The Tonight Show,” which has become the most viewed late night show and the most followed across socials globally. “I just got the numbers today … and our socials this year alone have been 8.6 billion views since June,” he said. “The reason people even know why I’m here is because of digital and YouTube and what our stuff has done and grown.”
He said the No. 1 rule to create a viral moment is being authentic. “We’ll do a bit, and we don’t even know how big it’s going to get. You can never plan it. If you try to go like, ‘Oh, trust me, this will go viral.’ It won’t. Don’t do it,” he said. “Just do something that’s different and new that no one’s seen before, and do it with love. If you make it with love, people can tell if it’s fake or not, and they’ll go, ‘That’s cool.’ That’s something different.’”
The next big thing that could go viral is a video he just did with Brad Pitt for “F1,” where they play frisbee golf in Central Park.
“I don’t know how that’s going to do,” he said. “But we both showed up in tie-dye outfits, and he’s like, ‘Yo, bro, let’s play some frisbee golf!’”
