A world free from cancer is a might aim. A fund-raising campaign with a visual metaphor that makes you cry is a mighty step towards it. Broken Heart Love Affair uses the device of fireflies to represent donations for The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation.  

The campaign is built around the idea that every individual donation contributes to something bigger, and when thousands come together, they can become a powerful force for progress. The new Carry The Fire work makes that collective impact visible, with each donation represented by the glow of an individual firefly. 

And the campaign film, directed by Jason van Bruggen of Suneeva, adds the emotive power of a live version of Coldplay’s Yellow.

“Every donation matters, and together they have the power to fuel meaningful progress in cancer research and care,” stated Melanie Johnston, chief marketing officer at The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation. “The fireflies bring that collective impact to life, showing how each contribution becomes part of something much bigger — helping to light the way toward a world free from the fear of cancer.”

Out-of-home features real Cancer Centre patients alongside messages including “Every donation lights the way forward,” “Tomorrow is counting on us,” “Together, we can bring the dawn,” “Spark the next cancer breakthrough,” and “Brighten the future of cancer care.”Digital and social executions connect donor support to the work it helps fuel, highlighting examples of the Cancer Centre’s research and discoveries across cancer types, including multiple myeloma, breast cancer, sarcoma and brain cancer.

The work invites donors to consider what the next contribution could help make possible, under the message, “Every donation lights new discoveries.”

“When the challenge is as big as cancer, it’s easy to wonder what one person or one donation can really do,” commented Marty Hoefkes, creative director, Broken Heart Love Affair. “We wanted to make the collective power of those individual acts visible. A firefly gave us the perfect metaphor: one point of light becomes something much more powerful when joined by others. It allowed us to show donors not as spectators to progress, but as part of the force driving it forward.”

The work covers TV, CTV, online video, out-of-home, digital and social and includes 90-, 60-, 30-, 15- and six-second films, along with vertical executions, and will run through the end of the year.It follows the September 22 launch of The Princess Margaret’s $2.5-billion Carry The Fire fundraising campaign – the largest cancer fundraising campaign in Canadian history – which is already being fuelled by extraordinary philanthropy, including a landmark $100-million anonymous gift. The campaign aims to accelerate discoveries, transform patient care and help create a world free from the fear of cancer.

Bringing the fireflies to life required a mix of practical effects, VFX, real staff from The Princess Margaret and some unexpected cameos:

• Real staff members from The Princess Margaret appear throughout the film. The researcher working at the microscope is a real researcher at the Cancer Centre, while the MRI operator and cryogenic tube operator also perform their real-life roles on camera.
• The fireflies started with real points of light. Tiny LED lights suspended on fishing line gave performers something physical to interact with and helped cast light onto faces and environments before VFX brought the fireflies to life.
• Filming inside the Cancer Centre took place overnight, allowing the production to capture the real hospital environment while working around its day-to-day operations. The overall production was shot over four days.
• Practical effects helped ground the VFX. The physical LEDs established real light and interaction on set, giving Motomotus a foundation for creating the fireflies that eventually fill the Cancer Centre and Toronto night sky.
• BHLA Creative Director Michael Morelli makes an unexpected cameo, stepping in front of the camera during the shoot and ultimately making the final cut in the café scene.