Saatchi & Saatchi has been shortlisted for the spot, which showed a realistic childbirth scene as part of a school nativity play, promoting Mr Kipling's mince pies. It garnered 797 complaints from television viewers and was pulled from the air. Saatchi & Saatchi has since lost the Mr Kipling account to WCRS.
Another controversial ad, M&C Saatchi's "bungee" spot for Foster's, has been shortlisted, along with two other spots in the series. Viewers complained that the ad was upsetting to children, when it showed a man bungee-jumping into a billabong and having his head bitten off by a crocodile, with a commentator saying "that is going to hurt in the morning".
UK agencies have been shortlisted 77 times, compared with 157 nominations for US-based agencies. Some of the best performers include Fallon, with its work for BBC Digital, United Airlines and this year's "factory" ad for Velvet Toilet Tissue all in the running.
Mother's "I Wish" ad for Coca-Cola, which ran in the UK and the US, is in contention for a Lion. The agency's popular cinema advertising for Orange, featuring Hollywood stars Carrie Fisher and Roy Scheider, as well as the director Spike Lee has also been nominated.
Tipped by some as an outside chance for the Grand Prix this year, WCRS's 118 118 campaign has been shortlisted three times, including the "Rocky" spoof.
Other agencies to score multiple nominations are Lowe, for its Quality Street campaign and for HSBC, which has since dropped the agency; Clemmow Hornby Inge, for Tango and Typhoo; and Bartle Bogle Hegarty, for Gordon's, Levi's and Lynx.
DDB London, already a Grand Prix winner for Best Poster this year, has seen four of its Volkswagen ads shortlisted in the car category, in which UK agencies have performed strongly.
Beyond the UK, DDB Chicago has received multiple nominations for its work on Budweiser and BBDO Worldwide's FedEx work has been shortlisted eight times. Arnold Worldwide has seen four of its Volkswagen spots shortlisted, as has Crispin Porter + Bogusky's Burger King campaign.
180 Amsterdam's work for Adidas has also received several nods from the jury.
The Grand Prix will be announced at a ceremony in Cannes on Saturday night.
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