Sandy Hook Promise is a not-for-profit organization founded by families of people who were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012. Their intent, “to honor all victims of gun violence by turning our tragedy into a moment of transformation.”
This campaign, which premiered yesterday on American television, takes the cliché of back-to-school shopping ads, and quickly escalates into an immersive journey into the terror children feel when their school is attacked by deranged and gun-toting murderers.
This year alone (and we’re only 3/4 of the way through it) 335 people have been killed in gun attacks at schools in the USA, and more than 1200 wounded, in almost 300 incidents. (There were 323 incidents in total in 2018.)
The organization’s “ask” is for moral and financial support to advocate for stricter gun control laws, as well as address the underlying mental health issues that may motivate the murderers.
I’ve long disparaged fear-based social marketing, but this campaign is different. While the concept risks being too clever for the seriousness of the issue, and the progression from banal to deadly is obvious, it still pulled me in. Hell, it even pulled a tear or two from my cynical old eyes.
I’d like to provide strategic, creative, and production credits. If it’s your work, please reach out.
Related: A Song From Sandy Hook
The post Powerful new anti-gun campaign invokes terror and tears first appeared at Osocio