adam&eveDDB and Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) have added a new episode in their Missed Birthdays campaign to bring awareness to the charity’s work to fight suicide. The first part of the Missed Birthdays campaign launched with a major experiential activation at Westfield London in September 2024, coinciding with World Suicide Prevention Day.
The new work, made possible by funding from the Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation (IFCF) and created in partnership with ITV and the7Stars, centres around one film that tells the true story of youth suicide.
The film, directed by Sebastian Edwards and produced by Academy Films, introduces the viewer to a girl called Evelyn through home videos and her mum’s narration. Evelyn is one of 6,929 young people who have taken their own life in the last decade. Much like the first phase of the campaign, the film will direct viewers to the CALM C.A.R.E. Kit, an online resource and suite of practical tools that enable parents and trusted adults to play an active role in ending youth suicide. The C.A.R.E kit hosts a comprehensive collection of resources designed to help prevent suicide by recognising and supporting young people throughout life and in moments of crisis.
Supporting the film, a full campaign spanning cinema, TV, video-on-demand and social channels, runs for four weeks. Media is managed by the7stars and PR by Hope & Glory.
Missed Birthdays aims to make youth suicide an unignorable and nationwide talking point and empower every adult to play a role in protecting young lives. In the UK, 6,929 15-24-year-olds have been lost to suicide between 2012 and 2022. Despite this statistic, youth suicide is seldom spoken about. Only 15% of parents and carers have spoken about mental health and suicide with loved ones, although 2 in 5 young people admitting to experiencing a mental health crisis or suicidal thoughts.
Simon Gunning, chief executive officer, CALM, stated, “It is unacceptable that we have lost 6,929 young people to suicide in the last decade. Behind that stark statistic are real people, and thousands of families going through the unimaginable pain of losing a child. We at CALM want to thank every single person that has generously shared their story with the Missed Birthdays campaign to date, and to Evelyn’s parents for the courage they have shown in allowing us to help tell their story in this new film. With their help, we’re urging absolutely everyone to save, share and bookmark the C.A.R.E. Kit. We all have a role to play in ending youth suicide. By starting life-saving conversations, we can all do our bit to help a young person find a way forward and make sure they never think that suicide is their only option.”
Ant Nelson & Mike Sutherland, executive creative directors, adam&eveDDB, commented, “This emotional campaign serves as a powerful reminder of the impact of youth suicide on families and friends. Evelyn’s story is one that will stay with us and we thank her family for sharing their memories of her with us. We hope that anyone who sees this film will be motivated to use CALM’s tools to support the young people in their lives who might be struggling.”
Helen Oakley, client lead at the7stars, added, “To maximise impact and understanding of the issues young people currently face, we have prioritised viewing environments that allow us to tell the longer story, to really hit home and land the message.”
Credits:
Client: CALM
Chief Executive Officer: Simon Gunning
Marketing Director: Dipika Saggi
Delivery Lead: Elle Abu-Nimeh
Brand Marketing & Partnerships: Chloe Grass-Orkin
Fundraising Director: Emily Clayton
Delivery Lead: Pippa Rogers
Services Director: Wendy Robinson
Head of PR & Communications: Elizabeth Charlesworth
Social Media Manager: Emma O’Sullivan
Head of Creative Operations: Sarah McGuire
Creative Copy Lead: Danny Wright
Content and Editorial Lead: Annabelle Letten
Performance Marketing Manager: Milly Whyman
Art Director: Sam Quinton
Graphic Designer: Georgey Lee
Creative Agency: adam&eveDDB
Chief Creative Officer: Richard Brim
Executive Creative Director: Mike Sutherland
Executive Creative Director: Ant Nelson
Creatives: Forrest Clancy & Jay Parekh
Head of Integrated Production & Producer: Nikki Cramphorn
Head of Print Production & Experiential: Jaki Jo Hannan
Assistant Producer: Catarina van Leuven
Chief Executive Officer: Miranda Hipwell
Managing Partner: Adam Patel
Business Director: Cicely Milsom
Account Director: Carrie Pollock
Chief Strategy Officer: Martin Beverley
Head of Planning: Will Grundy
Senior Planner: Jack Gilbert
Project Director: Rasha Noronha
General Counsel & Head of Sustainability: Candice Macleod
Senior Legal Council: Tom Campbell
Business Affairs Manager: Danni Rouse
Agency: DDB Europe
Creative Excellence Manager: Cassie Bodaly
Design Agency: King Henry Studios
Joint Head of Design (Lead Designer): Scott Silvey
Media Agency: the7stars
PR Agency: Hope & Glory
Public Relations & Communications Services: Persuasion
Ethical Casting Agency: Six Minutes Casting
Production Company: Academy
Director: Seb Edwards
Executives Producers & Producer: Medb Riordan & Georgina Smith
Production Coordinator: Mali Davies
Production Assistants: Luka Visockaite & Lola Panic
Edit Company: Trim
Editors: Tom Lindsay & Josh Mannox
Executive Producer: Noreen Khan
Assistant Editor: Liv Ay
Post Production: TBA
Post Producers: Lily Barron & Mia Saunders
Online Artist: Jamie Crofts
Audio Post Production: 750mph
Audio Producer: Olivia Ray
Sound Design & Mix: Sam Ashwell
Music Supervision: SoundTree
Head of Music & Music Supervisor: Luis Almau
Managing Director O Music Supervisor: Jay James
Track: All Things Beautiful aka The Water Song by Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
