The scary, and at times ghoulish, aspects of organ donation are acknowledged and eloquently diffused in this :60 conceived by Arnold Communications, Boston. "Let’s Talk," for the Coalition on Donation and The Ad Council, couples a youthful voiceover with scenes of people of varied ages and from different walks of life. Prevalent in the montage, which is shot in black and white as well as in color, are images containing water, which conjures notions of birth and sustaining life.
The voiceover begins: "Let’s talk about dying. Everybody’s got to do it. But nobody wants to talk about it. So talking about organ donation is even harder, especially with your family.
"Because to talk about that, you’ve got to admit you’re going to die," continues the voiceover. "And that’s hard."
The young voice conjectures why organ donation is so difficult to discuss. "Maybe people think if they don’t talk about it, it [death] won’t happen. You know what? That’s exactly what happens with organ donation. If you don’t talk to your family about it, it won’t happen."
The voiceover concedes: "Yeah, it’s kind of creepy. Maybe weird. But you get to give the biggest gift in the whole world: Life." Visuals support the message, including a snippet of a boy placing his ear against a pregnant woman’s abdomen. Another boy marvels at the sight of birds in flight.
The voice then concludes, "So this is what I think. Organ donation is not about dying. It’s about living. Talk to your family about living." Images of people from different generations—from an elderly couple to kids—continue to fill the screen, finally centering on the freckled face of a little girl. At that instant, the scene segues to a supered white-on-black message, which is also uttered by the voiceover: "Talk to your family about donating life." A toll-free phone number appears (1-800 355 SHARE).
Key contributors on the Arnold team included creative director/copywriter Scott Mackey, creative director/art director Terry Taylor and director of broadcast production Joe Pistorio.
The four-spot campaign—"Let’s Talk," "Who You Are," "Change The World" and "License"—was directed by freelancer Jeff France via Random/Order Information and Entertainment, Culver City, Calif. It was produced by Merilee Newman. DP was Riggs Murdock.
Nika Hunter of ARTiFACT, Santa Monica, edited the spots, and was backed by executive producer/company partner Michael Waters and senior producer Leah Welsh. This was one of the first jobs cut by Hunter under the ARTiFACT banner; she recently came over from Two Headed Monster, Santa Monica.
Clark Muller of Riot, Santa Monica, served as colorist. Fire artist was George Fitz of Colorado, Santa Monica. Audio mixer was Bryan Magill of Zona Playa, Santa Monica.
The campaign is slated to break this month.
