Coronavirus survivors and frontline workers front Victoria Government’s latest Covid-19 campaign via M&C Saatchi, Melbourne
July 27 2020, 2:56 pm | | 11 Comments
The Victorian government has rolled out a confronting COVID-19 commercial via M&C Saatchi, Melbourne, featuring virus survivors and frontline workers in an effort to convey the seriousness of the pandemic to the wider community.
The spot contains personal stories including one man who relayed how the coronavirus tore through his family and killed his mother-in-law, while another likened his experience of fighting the virus to drowning.
11 Comments
Creativity is desperately needed at a time like this.
Unfortunately, this ain’t it.
Creativity takes a problem and charms, entertains, shocks or makes you think. It’s often unexpected. Or approaches the topic from a disarmingly different perspective.
It allows the message to penetrate before you can shrug it off as ‘just another ad’.
It’s not easy. That’s why good ads are incredibly rare. Especially in Australia, where the banal is preferred to the outstanding.
Is the problem that the audience for advertising in this country is so bland and dumbed-down that great work would simply be pearls before swine – or is the advertising talent pool so shallow that a campaign of this importance gets the usual ‘that’s good enough’ treatment from people simply incapable of world-class work?
What a tremendous opportunity this is. You’re not flogging toilet cleaner or meals-in-a-box or the latest SUV.
A once in a hundred year health emergency- and this is what we get served up.
I don’t underestimate the time pressures or the difficulties of a government client.
But great work has been produced for public health authorities here and overseas. Saatchi & Saatchi London established their reputation on it. Simon Reynolds Grim Reaper work on for AIDS is still being lauded.
It can be done. And this is too important a subject to get the ‘near enough is good enough’ treatment.
Totally. Hit me somewhere, anywhere. But don’t make me feel like I’m just watching the news (again).
Old CD guy I am now wondering if you are really as old as you say. The AIDS work of 30 years ago might have been “lauded” at Cannes but it was loathed by the community who was actually dealing with the issue at the time and was regarded as being VERY unhelpful in continuing the isolation, fear mongering and persecution of the gay community by showing the grim reaper killing young mums and kids. I am sorry if this message didn’t tickle your cranky award bones but we need clear messaging and this does that.
It’s been held up these past weeks as an example of advertising that was effective in a crisis involving a frightening disease. I will be 68 in November.
…commercials such as Grim Reaper weren’t created under a lockdown, with extremely limited production capabilities. Also the AIDS epidemic didn’t shut down entire countries making governments incredibly cautious about doing….anything. And I assume this was a super quick turnaround given the pressing nature of the situation. Could it be better? Sure. But very small box to work in on this one. As someone who lives in the US, I commend the government and the agency for getting something out on the airwaves quickly as a reminder that this is indeed real pandemic affecting and killing real people. Lord knows it ain’t happening over here.
Yes, but that doesn’t preclude having an advertising idea. Just off the top of my head, what if you brought the ‘it’s like drowning’ thought to life in a dramatic, compelling way? Now THAT would be a powerful AD.
Hang on.
Totally agree with @oldCDguy
+1 Old CD Guy
Ordinary work.
+1 Old CD guy
Why do creatives feel like everything has to be crafted and nuanced. Sometimes we just need the info without the gloss. Get over yourselves.