Charity Oxfam is encouraging its activists to “stay in the fight” and continue to stand up for causes they believe in with a powerful new campaign film.
Developed by creative agency Don’t Panic, the film was shot on location in London and Nairobi, bringing to life the story of a former protester telling her grandchildren about her youth.
Building to a crescendo, the creative links the grandmother’s struggle with the modern fight for climate justice taking place all over the world – drawing parallels between legacies of past and present-day activism.
“Authenticity was at the heart of this one. Finding a real protestor and a real protest happening in Kenya brought a lot of production challenges, but it’s also why the film feels so true and real. Joyce, the Kenyan protestor, was amazing to work with,” Don’t Panic creative partner, Rick Dodds said.
“She is passionate about climate change and she brought all of that passion to the film. We had to be nimble in our production process because the protest dates, and even the protest route, kept changing. Once we had shot the real protest in Kenya, we then worked backwards to cast our “UK Grandma”. We needed to find an actor who could captivate our audience and who could realistically be an older Joyce so that the reveal would work. Edith, our UK Grandma, also used to go on protests, so this brought some real power and genuine storytelling to the film.”
Subscribe to Marketing Beat for free
Sign up here to get the latest broadcast advertising news sent straight to your inbox each morning
To celebrate the campaign, Oxfam re-united protesters who took part in 1983 march for peace in London’s Hyde Park – with the charity aiming to foster cross-generational co-operation in fighting for a better world.
Oxfam legacy engagement lead, Sinem Bilen-Onabanjo added: “Often legacy campaigns which target an older audience, speak in a certain soft, pared back, almost patronising tone, and paint them as an archetypal ‘old person’. We wanted to break that mould and honour the fighter spirit that is this generation’s hallmark, and celebrate them as the original protest generation.
“The campaign takes Oxfam back to its activist roots, and has paved the way for a tone that plays into this generation’s inherent fighter instinct, with sentiments brought to life by our legacy pledgers and our reunified protesters who still share these values. Working with Don’t Panic, we have been able to create a bold integrated campaign with authenticity at its heart, that feels a long way off from a traditional legacy campaign.”
The creative will run across Sky, ITV, Channel 4, Sky News and Channel 5, supported by further activations across out of home, press and radio. Media planning and buying was handled by The Kite Factory.
