St John Ambulance
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC7zfgCXQFs
It’s very well shot, very well cast and very well observed.
And the stat at the end is a killer (pardon the pun).
Excellent work.
By the way, if you’re as much of an ad geek as I am, you’ll have noticed an interesting similarity between this ad and the one with which John Hegarty (whose agency produced this ad) won his first D&AD Gold Pencil. I could call it a lazy rip-off, but I have a funny feeling there was no deliberate connection between the two (smiley face made out of punctuation).
Ben, I have a case for you – it’s about judging creative work. And I’ve asked Scamp too 🙂
I think last month I’ve watched a video about the judging process for Black pencils at D&AD…it’s on youtube… I remember that David Droga liked a particular campaign because of its strong idea but then some other judge said “But the result of the campaign was 0” – and they started to argue.
Now today I had the same argument at our office – last weekend we had our national creative awards – in one of the categories the big award went to a political campaign. Nicely shot, well narrated – my problem is that the candidate remained third or forth in the race… so the result of the campaign is that… it lost the elections… but still the ad judges gave it an award…
So what you think – if you are a judge will you vote for it?
Dave Trott has explained eloquently and often how advertising is only one small part of a large process that might include factors such as distribution, pricing, and the quality of the product. The advertising can be absolutely amazing, but if the other parts are not in place then it will be for nought.
Then again, it’s great how we accept the credit for success but deflect the blame for failure elsewhere.
Human nature, innit?
Exactly!
So… you will vote for it
I am still in a dilemma though…the distribution, and the pricing were perfect but the quality of the politician is aways hard to estimate 🙂 We had the same case 4 or 5 years ago – a political campaign for someone who took third place so I had a deja vu…
Thanks, Ben!
Very nice indeed. Well shot, well cast, well directed creative that brings strategy to life. If I was in the cinema (I’m guessing this is where it’ll run; please don’t tell me it’s an Internet film) I would stop eating revels at about 30 seconds in. And the end works well; it took me by surprise and made me read the end frame. I wish I’d done this one.
The only thing I find a bit baffling is that no one knows what to do when someone is choking? Really? Not one hard slap on the back? No attempt for a Heimlich maneuver? They just look at him and go “Oh look, he is choking. Let’s all stand around helpless and point it out until he suffocates.”
I know it’s to illustrate their point, but still…
‘CHRIST WHY DID NOBODY DO ANYTHING! THAT MAN WAS DYING FOR GOD’S SAKE SOMEONE SMACK HIS CHEST OR GET YOUR FINGER DOWN HIS THROAT BLOODY HELL I AM I THE ONLY ONE HERE TRYING TO SAVE THIS MAN WITH MY MIND?!’
Is what I thought whilst watching this. Well done all.
i thought the shot of the little girl from inside as she watched her dad choke was telling us that she’d poisoned him because she was tired of being raped by him.
is that wrong?
this is everything i hate about charity advertising.
great fact. which i’m sure took a planner days to find.
crafted well, because good directors love a charity ad.
but then executed in such a ridiculous ham fisted, ooh look at his daughters sad face, cancer? are you fucking serious fucking way.
So, do St John’s Ambulance only save people from choking? Do a lot of people choke at football matches?
Very powerful stat at the end. Didn’t expect that ending but not sure how good it is… It feels a bit like “life is a bitch and then you die” especially when you are surrounded by a bunch of useless idiots who don’t try to do something to help you.We may not know exactly what to do but do something!!!
Pull your heads in you nitpicking cunts, it’s a great bit of work.
Gonna sign up my daughter for St John’s, I guess these parents should have done too. Perhaps basic first aid should be on the national curriculum?
@The Daddy: Life *is* a bitch and then you die. The sooner you accept that, the less of a bitch life becomes.
One question, does anyone do 30′ & 60′ anymore?
too intense for the ending. which is the whole point. but still. and he looks just like someone who died from cancer. you know how breathing difficulties actually can be the last stage before you die. oh well, and all those loving people watching him not even trying. i mean, first aid is about *trying* to save a life. and they can show you how.
Title gave it all away and ruined the surprise for me, so I got bored and jumped ahead to watch him get better and then choke to death. Good video. But the title is a giant fail.
Fuck me, unlucky cunt or what? Gets cancer, overcomes it, chokes on a Wall’s porker, dies.
I thought it was a bit silly and over blown personally.
I have just watched Game of Thrones in 2 days, so my heartstrings have become a tad hardened. I actually laughed when he started to choke.
Yeah, a change of title would definitely help.
@7. You are a sick puppy. But then, I must be sicker because your comment made me laugh my ass off. I’m still wiping the tears from my face. I thought the spot was O.K. Nice song. BTW, I have actually saved a man’s life using the Heimlich Maneuver. FYI.
Seems this ad is like marmite. You either love it or hate it.
I don’t think it’s marmite, itsalliies. I don’t love it or hate it which is its problem. It’s just…good. No doubt it’s powerful, but that’s mainly because the fact is. All this ad really does is bring to life this fact, so creatively its not a major leap from the brief. I agree it’s a bit hamfisted with the kid etc but no doubt it will emotionally resonate with people. But charity type ads always do no matter how they are executed….it’s not like it’s done something creatively interesting/brilliant like NSPCC cartoon ad BUT it’s still a ‘good’ ad
@Anonymous (21), with your NSPCC reference you have reminded me how good charity ads *can* be… And that worked in 30 seconds, if I remember correctly.
I disagree with anon 21. Creatively, it has done something interesting with the fact – its sent up the life affirming power of beating cancer for the bulk of the ad taking us one way, and then undercut it with a silly thing like a chip taking your life away. Oh the irony….just bringing the fact to life would be a boring statistic type advert wouldn’t it? Agree its not as powerful creatively as something like NSPCC cartoon (one of the greatest ads of the last 20 years, let alone one of the greatest charity ads IMO) but its still going to work and stand out (agree however the girl in the window is a little too much and a bit cheesy).
I wonder if that stat at the end could be backed up in anyway?
Tricky to measure don’t you think? Especially as it is not relating only to choking but any death that could have been prevented by first aid?
Choking tends to kills mainly (roughly 3,000 to 4,000 p/a) the very young and very old.
People at BBQs don’t to tend to choke for the reasons mentioned. An adult usually does something.
David Cameron is right.
Look at the second close up of the girls face.
Absolute hatred in her eyes.
He raped her everyone.
That stat is almost certainly bullshit, but even if it’s 50,000 a bit more first aid would help.
I’d like to see this as a campaign with loads of methods of death undercut with a choke, particularly sexual auto asphyxiation.
Someone would have done *something* right?
That’s the contention of many posters. A group of adults would have had the wit to at least try something, anything that would save the bloke.
I’ve been in a couple of situations when simple first aid has been required. And it’s extraordinary how a “I don’t know anything so I don’t want to risk interfering in case I make it worse” paralysis grips people.
Basic first aid taught at school is a good thought.
And so is @Mick G’s.
@Original Richard H, if it was an internet film at the end it could send people directly to a destination where they could learn some first aid, so yeah, thank God it’s not one of THEM!
On second watch and after reading the comments, I’ve changed my mind. This spot is a wank. All about recovering from cancer and then a fake out at the end. And what really seals the deal is the graphic at the end. It’s people “WHO” die of cancer, not people “THAT” die… Where was the proofreader that day?
@Bentos: good point. If anyone could be arsed to watch it on the web…
@Mister Gash, this is all right and true, but isnt it about getting people where they are. even if its them falsely believing they would react differently than those in the video, and help, or actually do something, anything. i have nothing except my gut feeling to back it up when i say that most people think and say they would try to help their loved ones (this is not a stranger which might make a difference as well).
I’ve been wrestling with whether or not I like it.
The fact is, three days on, I still remember the message it wanted to plant in my head.
It’s done this without being ugly or shouty.
It’s a good ad. Does its job very well.
Perhaps an easy message to get across, but that’s not the team’s problem.
@ Original Richard H, hmmm, the thorny old problem of getting people to watch your ad. One thing you could do is buy media placements around content you knew your target audience would want to watch..sounds crazy but it just might work