The lead entry in this week’s “The Best Work You May Never See” gallery is “Screwdriver,” a spot promoting The Center For Child Protection in Austin, Texas. The public service message comes from The Peace Council, a nonprofit foundation dedicated to creating advertising that helps to raise awareness about issues of social consequence.
Among the key movers behind The Peace Council are Daniel Russ, whose day job is senior VP/group creative director at GSD&M, Austin, and board members Dennis Fagan, who directed this and another PSA in the package, and Myra Spector, who produced the work for AMS Production Group, Dallas and Austin.
The Center For Child Protection’s charter mission is to reduce trauma for victims of child abuse during the investigation and prosecution of their cases. The Center For Child Protection provides a homelike, child-centered environment where kids who have reported abuse, along with their protective caregivers, can go for intervention, evidence gathering and counseling. Provided at no charge, these services are currently offered out of four small buildings in Austin. This Peace Council campaign is designed to raise funds for the construction of a main building on the same property, making for a complete facility complex to service kids in need.
The Center For Child Protection is one of several Peace Council clients. As chronicled in SHOOT, The Peace Council has since its inception in 1997 addressed assorted other issues–including racism, the proliferation of land mines worldwide, AIDS, education, freedom of information, and nuclear waste–championed by worthwhile organizations.
It’s gratifying to now revisit The Peace Council in our “Best Work” coverage. The grass-roots group is a reminder of the good that advertising can do–both creatively and more importantly, for the benefit of society at large. The last time we covered The Peace Council was also based on its work on behalf of The Center For Child Protection.
In that instance (SHOOT, 6/18/04, p. 11), the spot consisted of actual home movie footage taken at a zoo. We see people visiting the various animal attractions. A super against a black background reads, “In 1996, a three-year old fell into a Chicago zoo’s gorilla cage.” Suddenly, other zoo-goers are looking down at the gorilla habitat, where a human toddler is laid out on the ground. The next super relates, “A gorilla carried him to safety and waited until he could be rescued.” The home movie footage shows the gorilla cradling–and seemingly comforting–the fallen child.
A parting super then rhetorically asks, “If a gorilla can protect a child, why can’t we?” The end tag contains a logo for the spot’s sponsor, The Center For Child Protection.
I recall interviewing Russ several years back about The Peace Council and his reasons for founding it. His message was simple and direct to the point–and rings especially true in light of recent individual and group efforts to help those in need in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
“If you look around the world, whenever there’s a problem, people do what they can to help,” observed Russ. “We’re advertising people–and there’s a role for us to play too.”
