The beautifully animated :90 PSA features a little boy who fears a “monster in the closet” and is reassured by his parents that there is nothing to be afraid of. One day, though, the lad looks to confront his fear and ventures into the closet where a box with a hat on top of it appears in the dark to be a forboding face. He climbs up, reaches into the box and pulls out a loaded, unlocked handgun. He begins playing with it and ultimately the weapon discharges, gravely wounding him. His unknowing parents can’t hear what’s happening over the din of their lawnmower cutting the grass outside.
Yves Geleyn directed via Hornet for Grey New York.
Credits
Client States United to Prevent Gun Violence Agency Grey New York Tor Myhren, worldwide chief creative officer; Per Pedersen, deputy worldwide CCO; Rob Perillo, Rob Lenois, executive creative directors; Evan Ortolani, art director; Daniel Alvarez, copywriter; Bennett McCarroll, executive VP/director of broadcast; James McPherson, executive producer; Zach Fleming, producer; Zach Pollakoff, music supervision. Production Hornet Yves Geleyn, director; Michael Feder, exec producer; Greg Bedard, head of production; Jan Stebbins, producer; Joel Miller, RJ Glass, editors; Stephanie Andreau, assistant editor; J. Todd Anderson. storyboard artist; Oren Haskins, character designer; Mark Boardman, background designer; Sang-Jin Bae, supervising TD; David Hill, lead CG artist & compositor; Richard Kim, CG & compositing; Erwin Riau, Dan Fine, modeling; Sean Thorpe, Andrew Boccio, Emily Griswold, CG animation; Mike Luzzi, lead 2D animator; Keelmy Carlo, Mark Pecoraro, Nivedita Sekar, Frank Summers, animators; Emma Noble, animation clean up; Kristin Labriola, development producer; Arman Matin, R&D. Editorial Cut+Run Joel Miller, editor; Tom Akey, Stacy Peterson, assistant editors; Melati Pohan, producer; Rana Martin, exec producer. Music Mutato Muzika Mark Mothersbaugh, composer; Natalie Montgomery, music producer; Bradley Denniston, music engineer. Music/Sound Design Vision Post Dante Desole. Principal Talent Samantha Mathis, Anthony Arkin.
White Ribbon has launched its “My Friend, Max Hate” campaign in Canada featuring this public service film that follows the journey of a young, isolated boy who becomes influenced by a misogynistic online puppet, “Max Hate.” The PSA reveals how online figures in the manosphere--a network of online communities promoting hateful, misogynistic rhetoric which fuels attitudes among young men and boys that contribute to gender-based violence.
“It’s alarming to see the growing impact of the manosphere and how they are conditioning vulnerable populations such as teens, particularly young men,” said Humberto Carolo, White Ribbon CEO. “These misogynistic online groups have existed for years, but their influence has grown under controversial figures, driving an increase in gender-based violence. With the My Friend, Max Hate campaign, our goal is to expose the damaging influence of misogynistic figures and raise awareness, particularly among young men who are often drawn into these toxic online communities.”
Launching two weeks before Safer Internet Day (February 11), the campaign--from Toronto agency Bensimon Byrne--underscores the importance of online safety and protecting youth through clear content boundaries.
White Ribbon is creating an online resource hub that educates individuals on how to recognize harmful online groups and provides support for young men and boys seeking to escape. Additionally, the campaign will launch a TikTok account, @max_hate_, featuring the PSA ‘My Friend, Max Hate’ puppet to expose how these figures gain influence and spread hate in a space that reaches those most influenced, young men.
The PSA was directed by Angie Bird via Toronto-based Westside Studio.
