A month ago, McCann New York and March for Our Lives launched their newest campaign to fight gun violence. It pointed to the uselessness of politicians spraying “thoughts and across news media in response to gun deaths. Little did the partners know their campaign would launch shortly before yet another gun shooting in a US school. This time at a primary school in Uvalde, Texas.
It is sad that 21 more people had to lose their lives to make the world pay attention. It is sad that gun laws are still being debated, rather than acted on, in the US. The democrats bid to have background checks tightened for gun purchases is still meeting opposition, even in the wake of Uvalde.
March For Our Lives has been trying to get gun control laws passed since 2018. The movement was launched as a response to the Parkland, Florida school shooting. McCann’s new film was directed by JJ Augustavo of Missing Pieces. McCann NY has been working with the organisation since 2018. The agency;’s work began after the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. An ex-student and producer at McCann New York reached out to the Parkland community offering the agency’s help.
The first campaign launched shortly after. Price of our Lives proposed that the lives of students must not matter all that much to politicians. McCann NY divided NRA donations by the number of Florida students. The result was $1.05, which was the price per life of a student.
In 2020, the partners’ most shocking campaign, Generation Lockdown, was launched. An 11-year-old girl is brought in to teach a group of adults about the steps they should take to protect themselves in the event of a shooting. Her matter-of-fact delivery highlighted the awful “normality” of needing gun drills in US schools.
