Alzheimer’s Research UK has partnered with Above+Beyond and Yonder Media to launch a powerful animated film, bringing to life the ‘happily ever afters’ dementia has stolen.
Showcased across TV, social and out-of-home (OOH), the two-minute-long film is narrated by Oscar-award-winning Olivia Coleman and aims to urge the public to help support its research to find a cure for Alzheimer’s.
The film takes the form of a traditional fairy-tale style story, depicting a prince and princess slaying a dragon and riding off into the sunset, happily ever after.
Yet the ending is subverted as the viewer watches the prince decline in character and appearance, at first forgetful, then fearful, before becoming physically weak – much to the concern and sorrow of the princess who remains by his side.
The impactful film ends with a match cut from the animation to the real couple in life action, revealing this is not a fairy-tale, but the devastating reality for the almost one million people in the UK living with Alzheimer’s today.
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‘Change The Ending’ concludes with the statistic that ‘every three minutes’ someone develops Alzheimer’s, before delivering a call to action; ‘But with research, it can be cured. You can change the ending’.
“We very much hope this poignant film will inspire the nation and support Alzheimer’s Research UK in their quest to find a cure – something we will all desperately need,” Above+Beyond chief creative officer, Dom Goldman.
Alzheimer’s Research UK chief executive Hilary Evans added: “Our new film features a story we urgently need to tell – because this is the distressing reality for many people living with dementia today,”
“Tragically, it will be the reality for many more if we don’t act now. By putting a spotlight on the devastation this condition causes, we hope to ignite support for the vital research that will change the ending for everyone affected by dementia.”
The campaign follows in the wake of The Beyond Collective, a group company to Above+Beyond and Yonder Media, strategic agency Frontier, launching the charity’s new brand positioning, ‘For a Cure’, earlier this year.
