BBDO New York has been working with the American Red Cross since 2011, making impactful work and PSAs to drive blood donation in the U.S.
In January this year, the American Red Cross announced that it is experiencing the lowest number of people giving blood in the last 20 years. In all, the number of people donating blood has dropped by 40% over the last two decades.
This is deeply concerning because every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood. In fact, blood is needed in a range of life-threatening situations including complicated childbirths, accidents, cancer recovery, and emergency surgeries. Unfortunately, most people don’t know this, so it’s no surprise that only 3% of Americans donate blood.
To urge people to donate blood and educate them on why blood donation is so important, BBDO created two public service films directed by Charlotte Wells via MJZ, including this one titled “What’s Your Type?”
If you ask someone what their type is, they’ll likely have an answer, but very rarely is that answer about their blood type. To inspire people to donate blood, this PSA reframes the all-too-familiar “type” conversation to be about saving lives with a unique misdirect. The PSA intentionally begins in a familiar format–– with lighthearted music, a curated diverse cast, and upbeat pacing that feels like dating app ads we’ve seen over and over again. But by breaking this format with a crash and the dire medical emergency to follow, we remind viewers that anyone can need blood at any time. By showing that all types of blood can save all types of people, we turned a question based on self-interest into the selfless act of blood donation because you don’t have to be someone’s type to be the type to help save their life.
