BC Children’s Hospital has run out of room. This became the creative insight behind a new advertising campaign by Dare Vancouver to help the hospital’s foundation raise $150 million towards a new building.
The tag-line for the television, radio, out of home, print and online campaign is simply “We’ve run out of space.”
Dare has created two 30-second television spots (with 15-second versions also available). In “Operating Room,” the agency built a room with a sloping ramp that ends in a room with a 5’6” ceiling, giving the optical illusion that medical staff are working in extremely cramped conditions.
For “Hospital Ward,” Dare created a room typically found in fun houses and science centres called an Ames room to give the illusion that a nurse gets bigger as she crosses the room to pick up a child. No digital effects were used in either spot.
“What we wanted was something that could convey a simple message and also a message that could serve as a starting point for deeper discussions into the need for a new hospital,” said Stephen Forgacs, director of communications for the hospital foundation. “Working with Dare, we decided that by presenting these exaggerated scenarios we would hopefully capture attention and convey the need.”
An online banner on the Vancouver Sun‘s website invited people to check a child’s temperature by pressing a button. The cursor then becomes larger, giving the feeling of nursing staff that need more room to do their job.
The campaign runs until the end of March.
