Land mines. Cluster bombs. Unexploded ammunition. These are “the remnants of war”. And they’re lying in playgrounds, parks, parking lots, streets and playing fields in cities of conflict.

In those same playgrounds, parks, parking lots, streets and playing fields, children play.

Playing football is a particularly dangerous sport in 60 countries throughout the world. It takes a mammoth effort to tackle the problem. However, the topic does not feature very much in the public conversation or the media. Other imminent issues get all the coverage.

Grey for Good, the philanthropic arm of Grey Singapore, has teamed up with DanChurchAid (DCA) on International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, to help to build the support needed for creating safer communities in post-conflict zones around the world.

Grey realised that to create the awareness and support to make post-conflict zones safer to live in, its best option was to take the topic out of its humanitarian niche and into popular culture. So the team has developed an integrated campaign, #ClearThePitch, that builds an emotional link to one of the world’s biggest sports: football. It’s a universal sport loved throughout the world and is played on streets, fields, playgrounds, parking lots and many more places. Places that potential donors expect to be safe.

The ad is striking in its starkness. A row of footballs, one child – maimed by a bomb he didn’t see, a danger sign – the ad’s message underscored by the Rodgers and Hammerstein show tune, You’ll Never Walk Alone, that Gerry and the Pacemakers turned into a music chart topper in 1963 – which is also, incidentally, the theme song for Liverpool FC in the UK.

“The theme of football is everything but random. It allows us to reach and involve a huge group of people: not just millions of fans but also the clubs, players, associations and potentially even the sponsors. With a surprising but actually hard-hitting link: for millions of children playing the sport we all love is extremely dangerous. Our hope is to capture the imagination of the world of football to give the topic and our partner DCA both the visibility and the financial support that are so urgently needed,” said Till Hohmann, executive creative director & vice president (GSK), Grey Group Singapore.

Richard MacCormac, DCA head of Mine Action, added, “Together with Grey for Good, we look forward to driving an impact on this issue. The goal is not only creating safe ‘football pitches’ for children, but to also provide safe and secure living conditions for families and communities so they can live a ‘normal’ life.”

Credits:

Agency: Grey Group Singapore (through Grey for Good)

Agency Team: Till Hohmann (ECD), Antonio Bonifacio (CD), Konstantin Popovic (MD), James Dickinson (CW), Luis Fabra (AD), Brendan Cravitz (Sr. EP), Lauren Rilley (Producer), Rasyiqah Rahman (AM), Suresh Ramaswamy (Digital lead), Karishma Menon (Digital), Huma Qureshi (PR lead), Yanrong Pang (PR)

Film Production Company: Great Guns

Executive producer: Laura Gregory

Producer: Mathew Alden
Line producer: Ann Suthida Sihasavetra

Director: James Teh
DOP: Sinthop Sophon (Jeab)

Production Team: Timo Otsuki, Shumpei Negami

Production design Nattachai Kitjanawanchai (Nut Art)
Music and sound design: Yessian Music, New York

Composer/arranger: MichaelDragovic
Sound designer/mixer: Jeff Dittenber
CCO: Brian Yessian

Song: You’ll Never Walk Alone by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II
Editing and post-production: Cutters

Editing and post production team: Ryan McGuire, Ben Conkey, Toshiki Kamei, Dr. Yu & Tomomi Ogawa

NGO and brand: DCA Mine Action
Client team: Richard MacCormac, Nikolaj Søndergaard, Christian Sophus Ehlers, Anne Kristine Erhardsen, Camilla Tollstorff Ardilsø, Mulle Juul Korsholm, Anne Mousten, Tobias Juhler Maureschat