This PSA, created for the National Center For Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), opens on an empty school. Though we hear the sound of kids, there are no students to be found anywhere. Instead, posters of actual missing children appear in open lockers, in the hallways, on computer screens and on the backs of desk chairs.
The camera pans through the childless school while the plaintive chorus of Sarah McLachlan’s "I Will Remember You" tells the story. The message is painfully clear. Every day, a population of children equivalent to the size of a school turns up missing.
"School’s Out" is one of two NCMEC PSAs conceived by D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles/Detroit. "These spots are not just about awareness," observed Patrick Sherwood, managing director at D’Arcy. "They’re a call to action for the American public." According to the NCMEC, of the 2000 children who are reported missing every day, many are found due to people who provide tips after seeing their faces on NCMEC postcards and posters, and on its Web site.
"Our objective was to get people to pay attention to the photos that are all around us," added D’Arcy creative director Will Perry. "We all get so busy in our lives that we don’t always take the time to get involved."
"School’s Out" copywriter Greg Wagner believes individuals can make a profoundly positive difference. "We have a ritual at our house," he said. "My wife has been doing this for ten years: Every time we get a Missing Children postcard in the mail, we pass it around the table at dinner and ask our own children if they’ve seen the child. It takes just one person to notice."
The agency ensemble included Perry, Wagner, art director Paul Zimmerman, executive producer Claire Cavanagh and producer Linda Kemp. The spots were directed on an independent freelance basis by Cat Doran, and executive produced by Natalie Hill. Mott Hupfel was the DP.
The editor was Rich Smith of Griot Editorial, Southfield, Mich. Bobby Houghham, Sevrin Henderson and Don Pascoe of Postique, Southfield, were the visual effects artists. Audio mixer was Jay Scott of GTN, Oak Park, Mich.
Save for the hard costs of film, processing and equipment rentals, all of the creative work was done for free. Out-of-pocket costs were shared by D’Arcy and the NCMEC.
Perry said that the real value of the campaign could only be measured by its results. "If this work leads to the return of just one missing child, the effort will have been worth it. We hope the work will encourage people to heed the call to action: Look at the picture. Remember the faces. Find the kids."
