McCann Melbourne has brought a past police officer back to deliver an important message to officers who are still in the force. Senior Constable Laurie Fox committed suicide on New Year’s Eve 2012.

He was 32 and left behind a wife and two sons. Fox tells his former fellow officers that he was afraid to speak up about the mental health issues he was having. He urges them to have the courage to talk without fear of consequence.

The campaign is part of a long-term partnership and behaviour change program around mental health and suicide awareness. McCann’s film was made with the support of Fox’s former wife, Belinda Bozykowski and the Victoria Police Mental Health Program office. McCann Melbourne and Exit used deepfake technology to digitally recreate Fox in a complex process involving extensive casting for the live action shoot and using original photos, videos and archival source material from Senior Constable Fox’s life.

“What unites police officers is a desire to do meaningful work and go beyond the call to make a difference to the people around them,” stated McCann chief strategy officer, Simon McCrudden. “We worked very closely with Senior Constable Fox’s wife, Belinda, Victoria Police and Secretary of the Police Association of Victoria, Wayne Gatt to give an officer who tragically left us too early the opportunity to continue making a difference.”

McCann Melbourne creative director, Andrew Woodhead added, “We knew that if this project was to have any significant impact we would need to convey our message in a way the audience could not possibly ignore.”

Since its launch through Victoria Police’s Bluespace Wellbeing website and Equipt (a free health, wellbeing and sleep app), the awareness campaign has received national news coverage in press and on television. The app has been developed to help Victoria Police employees to identify the signs of mental health struggles and suicidal thoughts in themselves and their colleagues and seek assistance anonymously.