BC Children’s Hospital Foundation (BCCHF) has launched “A Sick Child Affects Everyone,” an emotionally charged awareness and fundraising campaign focused on the impact an ill or injured child has on loved ones.
Developed by Dare Vancouver, BCCHF’s creative agency of record, the campaign includes radio, outdoor, print and three 30-second TV spots airing on conventional channels in B.C.
The creative employs voiceover narrative to illustrate the emotional toll for family and friends of a sick child, utilizing scenarios such as a father watching his son’s childhood unfold at a hospital, and a sibling who is about to learn her little sister has been in an accident to drive its message home.
“Five hours and 32 minutes is a thousand years when your four-year-old niece is undergoing cardiac surgery. Every sound is magnified. Every door opened is a hope that it’s the surgeon with good news,” thinks a woman in “Waiting Room,” a TV spot focused on a sibling providing comfort to the parents of a child going through heart surgery.
Mia Thomsett, creative director at Dare, said data collected by BCCHF shows people are more likely to donate when they have a personal connection to a child in hospital, giving the agency the idea to highlight the heart-wrenching struggle of families in that position.
“We thought that’s something really interesting that we haven’t really seen before… and it’s obviously emotional to see a sick child through the eyes of someone else. It’s basically about allowing people to experience illness through the eyes of others, seeing through the eyes of aunts and uncles and parents what it’s like to have a sick child and allowing them to relate to what that might feel like.”
The campaign launched last week with the TV and radio spots, and print and outdoor ads are set to begin appearing in June.
“A Sick Child Affects Everyone” will run until the end of the year. Citizen Relations is handling PR and media space was donated.
Located in Vancouver, BC Children’s Hospital is the province’s only full-service acute-care hospital dedicated to serving children living in B.C. and the Yukon. Last year, more than 85,000 children were treated at BCCH.
