Tereza Litsa
A secret is always intriguing and manages to create a mysterious atmosphere when used in advertising. Secrets may lead to unexpected revelations tough, and not necessarily in a pleasant way.
The Nobody’s Children Foundation has collaborated with the Polish advertising agency Mccann Worldgroup, creating a campaign named ‘Secret’, which took place in the Polish cinema ‘Kinoteka’ in Warsaw. Moviegoers were ready to watch the movie they chose, when they noticed an envelope placed on their cinema seats. There was only one word to help them understand what it was about, ‘Sekret’. As they opened it, they found a toffee, along with the message:
‘Eat me. No one will find out. It’ll be our secret.’
Without a second thought, most of the moviegoers ate their gift and were happy to be part of this sweet secret. It seemed like a gift from the cinema that they all enjoyed. That’s how the lights turned off and the pre-movie commercials started.
The first advertising had the same concept with their surprise, talking about the ‘sweet taste of the earliest memories’ and the childhood secrets we all had. The happy images of the childhood memories were ideal after their sweet surprise, although they didn’t seem to last long.
The next images of the ad reminded us that childhood memories are not always sweet, referring to sexually abused children that struggle to forget some of their traumatic memories. Moviegoers suddenly forget the pleasant feelings they experienced a few minutes ago and get into an inconvenient state that was cleverly created by The Nobody’s Children Foundation, in order to raise awareness and help abused and neglected children in need.
Although the ad was considered ‘disturbing’ and ‘uncomfortable’, it was clever enough to remind us that even a candy may be the beginning to a traumatic secret for young children. Nobody’s Children Foundation is calling for help, with even the smallest donation helping victims of child abuse, providing them help and giving them a reason to rediscover the joy of living.
Not every advertising has to be pleasant. Sometimes it has to be dramatic and realistic, in order to really raise awareness about important issues and that’s what Mccann Poland did, by creating a bittersweet campaign that definitely grabbed everyone’s attention.
Could anyone forget it after watching it?
Credits
Advertising Agency: Mccann Worldgroup Poland
Creative Director: Jacek Szulecki
Creatives: Iza Przepiórska-KotliÅ„ska, Åukasz KotliÅ„ski
Producer: Mira Kleinberg
Account Manager: Iza Jurczak
Director: Marek Dawid
Production Company: Dynamo, Galaktika Film
