London agency, Don’t Panic, has made itself famous for creating PSAs, each with a shocking twist.

The Heist No One Is Talking About is perhaps it’s best yet. The two and a half minute film appears to be a Halloween thriller about a robbery in a hospital. A gang of masked men grab all of the hospital equipment they can, whether it’s in use or not – ventilators, tubes, IV carriers…and in a final scene a new born baby’s incubator.

Then the titles appear. “When companies don’t pay their fair share of tax, poor countries are stripped of funds needed for vital services like hospitals,” the ad informs its audience.

The film is an ad for Oxfam, underlining the problem of tax avoidance by large companies in the UK. According to Oxfam, companies dodge approximately £78bn (AU$134bn) in tax in poor countries annually, and just one third of the money avoided is enough to cover the bill for essential healthcare that could prevent the needless deaths of eight million mothers, babies and children.

Matthew Spencer, Oxfam’s campaigns director, explained, “Tax dodgers may not be literally stealing medicines from the pockets of the poorest but they are depriving poor countries of billions that could be invested in healthcare. It’s wrong that so many of the world’s poorest people are missing out on basic medical treatment that could save their lives and give them a chance of escaping poverty and hardship.”

Australia is fighting the same problem, and running a more straightforward campaign:

BMF and Photoplay simplify the complexities of making multinationals pay tax

Oxfam is calling on the UK government to tackle tax secrecy and end tax dodging. As movement towards an EU tax transparency deal has stalled, Oxfam is asking the government to use next month’s budget to commit to implementing tougher tax laws for multinationals based in the UK by the end of 2019.

Joe Wade, managing director of Don’t Panic, commented, “We aim to re-contextualise complex issues to make them appeal to new audiences, or to audiences that may have lost interest. We feel like this film dramatically achieves this by drawing people in with a heist set-up, before subverting it and delivering a stark message about the impact of tax avoidance. Which is something we’re all very proud to have been a part of on behalf of Oxfam.”

Credits

Agency: Don’t Panic London
Creative Lead: Christopher Ross Kellam
Senior Creative: Alistair Griggs
Managing director: Joe Wade
Agency Producer: Nisha Mullea
Agency Project Manager: Thyme Mor
Engagement Strategist: Ellie Moore
Head of Film & Photography: Emma Greaves
Brand Manager: Allys Thomas

Production Company: Stink Films
Director: Tom Green
Editor: James Forbes-Robertson @Whitehouse
Executive Producer: Blake Powell

Head of Production: Andrew Levene
Producer: Lucy Banks
DoP: Benoit Soler
VFX & Grade: MPC
Colourist: George K
VFX Supervisor: Mark Stannard
VFX Producer: Annabel Bennett

Music Composer: Walter Mair
Music Producers: Sean Craigie-Atherton & Sian Rogers
Music Production Company: Siren

Audio Post-Production: Neil Johnson @ Factory
Audio Producer: Lou Allen