Loneliness in old people was a problem before Covid, that many campaigns have tried to overcome. A million older people in the UK go more than a month without speaking to anyone, according to Age UK. Covid has made the problem so much worse. McCann London and Xbox have come up with a wild idea to bring different generations together using gaming. The platform is called Beyond Generations, the idea is to bridge the generational divide in families by showing older people the relationship-building potential of today’s games, and by getting younger people to start gaming and connecting with the older people in their lives.

The campaign is called ReBoxing. Most older people don’t have a console, most young people have an old one they no longer use. ReBoxing encourages gamers to give their old console to an older person in their life, to facilitate their connection.

The campaign includes two ReBoxing experiments on Xbox’s YouTube and Twitter channels, each following the story of a different real family.

There is also a ReBoxing Kit, downloadable from the campaign website, which includes gifting messaging cards, a What’s in the Box checklist, and product tags that will make it easy for older family members to understand what each item does and how they fit together, as soon as they open the box – all to help the process run smoothly. Xbox has also partnered with a number of charities worldwide dedicated to supporting the needs of older people

“This initiative is close to our hearts because it shows the power gaming has to make a genuine difference in people’s lives. And the more people who take up the call and start ReBoxing their old consoles and giving them to their grandparents, the more those siloes of loneliness start to break down. We’re honoured to partner with Xbox to help nudge families a little bit closer together,” stated Sanjiv Mistry, ECD at McCann London.

“Isolation and loneliness are topics brought into sharp focus in present times, particularly for the elderly. It’s important that we shine a light on the problem and we’re proud to bring this initiative into realisation, with the hope of making a step towards renewing family connections and democratising gaming for everyone,” added Michael Flatt, global integrated marketing at Xbox.

Credits:

Agency: McCann
Chief Creative Officers Mccann UK & Co-Presidents, McCann London: Laurence Thomson & Rob Doubal
Executive Creative Directors: Jamie Mietz & Sanjiv Mistry
Senior Creatives: James Crosby & William Cottam
Head Of Design: Lisa Carrana
Designer: David Coates
Senior Planners: Jonathan Bender & Mike Phillips
Managing Director: Jessica Tamsedge
Managing Partner: Sailesh Jani
Business Director: Oscar Flintoft
Account Management: Melanie Vickers, May Sinlapa & Eloise Thompson
Project Management: Clare Prager & Georgia Wettenhall

Production Agency: Craft
Chief Production Officer: Sergio Lopez
Head of Integrated Production: Sophie Chapman-Andrews
Executive Producer: Alec Christie
Senior Producer: Zara Balfour
Head of Post Production: Pedro Pinto
Post Producer: Jamie Cooper
Producer: Sarah Hall
Senior Print Producer: Liam White
Print Producer: Steve Tester
Production Business Affairs: Val Boyce & Molly Strasser

Director: Chris Fowles
Producer: Zara Balfour
DoP: Terrence Wilkins
Composer: Chris Davey
Editor: Alex Youngcraft
Assistant Producer: Toby Burden
Assistant Editor: Ashley Joinercraft
Assistant Camera: Marti Guiver & Luke Makepeace
Sound Design & Mix: Mihai Meirosu @ Craft
Grade: Steffan Perry @ Framestore
Online Editor: Simon Hall @ Craft
Covid Supervisor: David Devine
Illustrator: Son Of Alan