Agency Sid Lee provides a light-hearted take on one aspect of parental responsibility when it comes to stay-at-home confinement due to the pandemic. In this spot titled “Haircuts,” for which Sid Lee teamed with the Maple Leaf Foods brand, we see the best and worst that home-grown trims have to offer.
Indeed many families have to resort to cutting their kids’ hair. Staying true to Maple Leaf Foods’ brand platform of “We’re For Real”–touting real food stories and demonstrating parent empathy–“Haircuts” offers levity and shows parents that they are not alone in their challenges of raising and taking care of children, especially within this new territory of living in uncertain times.
Credits
Client Maple Leaf Foods Agency Sid Lee, Toronto Jeffrey Da Silva, executive creative director; Matt Fraracci, creative director; Alexandre Pellerin, art director; Amanda Loughran, head of production; Sydney Price, producer; Yanran Zhu, editor.
After losing part of his right leg due to cancer, Terry Fox campaigned to raise national awareness and funding for cancer research by running his Marathon of Hope, a cross-Canada 42-km daily run, on his prosthetic leg. Fox, who died in 1981, is a national hero. His image will be on Canada’s new $5 bill.
In this two-minute video titled “Finish It,” the Marathon of Hope is recreated. It’s all done in one take, and it features an actor/marathon runner who uses a prosthesis on the same leg as Fox. CGI was deployed to make him look more like Fox. To further ensure the actor represented Fox accurately, not only did the actor and team watch and study many videos of Terry, but Terry’s brothers, Fred and Darrel, coached the actor on Terry’s running style and mannerisms. They also created a copy of Terry’s prosthesis for the actor to use for the shoot.
The message is clear. As the Marathon of Hope now marks its 45th anniversary, we now have the opportunity to “Finish It” for Fox, raising money and awareness to get a cure for cancer over the finish line, completing the work that Fox started. The public service film starts with Fox on the marathon run, eventually joined by a crowd of other dedicated runners from all walks of life who take over the race.
Mark Zibert directed via production company Scouts Honour for Toronto agency Diamond. The video features a never-before-heard version of the song “Courage” from Canadian band The Tragically Hip.
“We wanted to create a campaign that captures the magnitude of Terry Fox’s legacy while driving meaningful action,” said Peter Ignazi, chief creative officer at Diamond. “By revisiting the Marathon of Hope with such care and reverence, we aimed to reignite Terry’s mission and... Read More
