ONE CHILD'S TOY, ANOTHER CHILD'S PAIN

Short List
TitleONE CHILD'S TOY, ANOTHER CHILD'S PAIN
BrandMETRO
Product / ServiceMETRO FOR CHILDREN
CategoryA07. Point of Sale
EntrantGREY GROUP, SINGAPORE
Entrant Company GREY GROUP, SINGAPORE
Advertising Agency GREY GROUP, SINGAPORE

Credits

Name Company Position
Fedinandus Oen Grey Group Singapore Digital Retouching Artist
Iskandar Abdul Kader Grey Group Singapore Senior Regional Art Buyer
Adrian Koh Gaia Films Pte Ltd Photographer
Bobby Aguila Grey Group Singapore Photographer
Jacqueline Tan Metro Pte Ltd Marketing Services Assistant Manager
Linda Avriani Grey Group Singapore Senior Account Executive
Penelope Wetherill Grey Group Singapore Group Account Director
Bobby Koh Grey Group Singapore Production Manager
Sandra Ong Grey Group Singapore Producer
Tan Giap How Grey Group Singapore Head Of Art
Dunstan Lee Grey Group Singapore Copywriter
Tan Zi Wei Grey Group Singapore Art Director
Deng Yingzhi Grey Group Singapore Senior Art Director/Designer
Ali Shabaz Grey Group Singapore Chief Creative Officer

Brief Explanation

The key challenge was to find a powerful, engaging way to connect the target audience to the issue. And find a relevant media and opportunity to do so. Our key objective was to get them to rethink the issue of child labour and be more active in helping to stop it.

The Brief

Around the world, one child in every seven is a child labourer. That's over 250 million kids robbed of their childhood, from as young as 5 years old. One way to stop the cycle is to provide them with an education. Metro for Children, a charity initiative, wanted to raise funds for that, while also increasing awareness of the issue.

How the final design was conceived

The best time to reach out to the shoppers is when they're thinking of children. That is, when buying toys. Combining that with the insight - what's used by child labourers to make a living, could just be toys to another child - toy packaging was the perfect solution. So we created 3 different toy boxes. These looked ordinary at first, but later, left shoppers with a surprise. We twisted text on the boxes, such that they reflected child labourers' sufferings. The boxes were placed in a department store, with a 'sales promoter' to share details and encourage donations.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

Throughout the one-month campaign, funds were raised for the education and rehabilitation of child labourers. Many shoppers wanted to take the boxes back to help spread the word. Beyond these, we got people to re-think what they are buying. And how they have the power to change the lives of the victims.