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Visitors to Dundas Square are going to unwittingly prevent an execution, thanks to a powerful new ad from Amnesty International debuting Monday on the Toronto attraction’s digital screens.
The spot from Toronto’s Agency 59 opens with three armed men who have run down a terrified young man in the street. They hurl him against a wall, and one of the gunmen viciously knees him in the groin while another cracks him over the head with the butt of his rifle.
The three men prepare to execute the victim when one catches a glimpse of the viewer and lowers his rifle. As the others follow his gaze, they too drop their guns. As the men walk away, shooting a baleful glance at the viewer, the super “If someone’s watching…the violence stops” appears on screen.
The 15-second spot was created with the crowds in Dundas Square in mind, said Brian Howlett, Agency 59’s chief creative officer. “We wanted to do something that would involve people on the street,” he said. “It’s very much about these guys, larger than life, beating the snot out of somebody when they all of a sudden get interrupted by you looking at them.”
A website invites viewers to use their mobile device to sign an online petition.
The spot, Agency 59’s first work for Amnesty International in two years, has its origin in a “battle of the bands” competition that agency staffers won early this year. First place in the contest was a free media campaign for a client of the agency’s choice from out-of-home ad companies including OBN and Clear Channel Outdoor.
Howlett said he expects the spot to stand out among the typically safe advertising at Dundas Square. “It’s filled with fashion ads and movie ads–everything’s sugar-coated,” he said. “This thing is going to cut through like a knife.”
Agency 59 also created a 30-second TV spot, although one broadcaster has already turned it down because of its violent content. “It’s very funny because the network itself has got some pretty violent shows,” he said. “For some reason when it comes to commercials they get queasy, but they’re okay with their own broadcast content.”
The spot will also appear on the Amnesty International website, and Howlett is hopeful it will get distributed around the world–which would be a first for Agency 59 in its decade-long association with the organization.
The spot, which was actually shot on a set in Pickering, Ont., deliberately features actors of indeterminate origin so that it could run anywhere, said Howlett. “These soldiers just have that dark, swarthy bad guy look that could be anywhere. We did that so it could run around the world.”
