The Brief

A cancer diagnosis is usually overwhelming. Beyond the despair that comes from knowing that you are sick, there’s also a deep anxiety that comes from knowing that you might not be able to afford medical help. Cancer treatments are hugely expensive. Less than two out of ten patients can afford to pay for chemotherapy sessions. Hundreds of patient are waiting for help at Chulabhron Hospital, Thailand. We set a clear aim to raise this issue to public, to help raise money for cancer patients to pay for their medical treatments at Chulabhron Hospital, and also to raise hope for them to live.

Creative Execution

Hair For hope was an act that not just made the whole country aware about cancer issue, but it has also changed a lot of patients lives, helped raising hope, as well as, helped raising fund to cure 150 patients at Chulabhron Hospital already.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

We created an act that turned the lost hair, a symptom of sickness, into a symbol of hope. By gathering lost hair from chemotherapy patients, and used their hair to create original sculptures. These unique pieces of art became the basis of a “Hair for Hope” exhibited at a prominent art gallery in Bangkok. We spread then a message of hope to millions of people through print, outdoor, website and raised public awareness of the plight of people struggling to survive and invited people to participate at the exhibition.

Results

Over 65 millions of Thai people have heard this message of hope, that’s about 97% of the whole population. We earned over one billion baht worth of free media through news, publications, articles, blogs, tweets, celebrities and politicians, they all talked about how to help these people. All sculptures were sold which was enough to help 150 cancer patients at Chulabhron Hospital who are now treated with proper medicals. The idea of Hair For Hope has now been agreed to take forward to other cities in the world in 2013 with Dubai, Incheon and Kuala Lamper to start with.