War Child Canada

While people are shocked to hear that an estimated 250,000 children around the world are being used as soldiers, that rarely translates into action. Canadians feel disconnected from the horror. John St.’s challenge was to generate media attention and jolt apathetic people into supporting the charity.

The message needed to resonate. The agency’s insight: the only way to get people to act was to have them visualize their children in these wars. To do this, they created a fictional summer camp similar to the war training camps found in Africa and Asia. The campaign invited parents to register their children for “Camp Okutta” – a place where kids learn to shoot a real AK-47, throw hand grenades and run through minefields.

The creative consisted of a 30-second TV spot, four viral videos, a microsite, posters, a brochure and guerrilla advertising. The campaign launched in August, and it has already gained strong support: the charity’s execs are planning to extend it into the U.K., Australia and the U.S.