So many campaigns for donations are launched every year. Making one stand out is a Herculean task. Making one achieve its goal is even harder. Some are impressively creative. All tug heartstrings with the plight of the needy. But Ogilvy Mumbai and director, Mahesh Gharat, of Hungry Films have found a trigger that no-one else has thought of. Its campaign for St. Jude’s India ChildCare Centres tugs heartstrings through the plight of Warden Pillau. He determines which children get free cancer treatment. In this story, he can only choose one of two sick children. As the narrator tells the stories of each child and their family, he keeps coming back to the point, “he can only choose one”. Choosing one child is a torturously long process. Many poor Indian parents are forces to abandon treatment because they can’t afford a place to stay while their child is being assessed.
Thousands of families in small villages in India live far away from the city. They lack access to doctors or the necessary treatment to cure cancer. They flock to major cities so their child can access the best charitable hospitals specialising in cancer treatment. Most are very poor. Their child’s treatment usually extends from weeks to months and the families often run out of money and are forced to stay on the streets, leaving their child vulnerable to other infections. Unfortunately, many families give up hope and return to their villages, abandoning their child’s treatment.
St. Jude’s India ChildCare Centres offer children with cancer and their families a free, safe, and clean place to stay in the city for the duration of their treatment. They provide holistic support and care along with accommodation, creating a ‘home away from home’ environment for families. St. Judes’s has 45 centres across 11 cities in India and currently houses over 500 families every day. But thousands are still left without accommodation. It’s estimated that 32,000 children will require a place to stay.
Fritz Gonsalves, executive creative director, and Jayesh Raut, group creative director, Ogilvy Mumbai, stated, “When we got the brief for St. Jude India ChildCare Centres, we decided to avoid guilt-tripping our audience by directly showing children suffering. Instead, we wanted to tell an honest and human story, and that’s how we stumbled upon the idea of The Impossible Choice A heartbreaking dilemma, if ever there was one. A big thanks to Mahesh Gharat from Hungry films for making this heart-melter, and a special shout-out to Ricardo from our team for writing this. We really hope that more people get to know about the fabulous job that the St Jude India team is doing and donate whole-heartedly for this life-saving cause.”
Credits
Agency: Ogilvy Mumbai
CCOs: Kainaz Karmakar, Harshad Rajadhyaksha & Sukesh Nayak
Executive Creative Director: Fritz Gonsalves
Group Creative Director: Jayesh Raut
Creative Directors: Ricardo Vaz, Vaibhav Paradkar
Creative Supervisor: Jatin Sangwan
Senior VP Account Management: Dushyant Kumar
Account Management: Saurabh Talpade
VP Brand Planning: Vinit J
Production House: Hungry Films
Director: Mahesh Gharat
