WHITE CANE DAY

TitleWHITE CANE DAY
BrandTHE SRI LANKA EYE DONATION SOCIETY
Product / ServiceSRI LANKA EYE DONATION SOCIETY
CategoryA08. Charities, Public Health & Safety, Public Awareness Messages
EntrantLEO BURNETT SOLUTIONS Colombo, SRI LANKA
Idea Creation LEO BURNETT SOLUTIONS Colombo, SRI LANKA
Media STARCOM WORLDWIDE SRI LANKA Colombo, SRI LANKA
Production 24 FRAMES Colombo, SRI LANKA

Credits

Name Company Position
Trevor Kennedy Leo Burnett Solutions Inc Chief Creative Officer
Eraj Wirasinha Leo Burnett Solutions Inc Creative Director
Athula Kathriarachchi Leo Burnett Solutions Inc Senior Creative Director
Mehnaz Ilhamdeen Leo Burnett Solutions Inc Head Of Operations
Chamari Priyabarshini Leo Burnett Solutions Inc Senior Executive - Broadcast Production
Caryll Van Dort The MSL Group Director
Prasad Chathuranga Leo Burnett Solutions Inc Illustrator / Art Director
Dilshard Ahamed Leo Burnett Solutions Inc Creative Consultant
Firzan Mulafer Publicis Solutions Account Director
Malaka Samith Leo Burnett Solutions Inc Copywriter
Nishat Omar Leo Burnett Solutions Inc Editor
Nadeera Warawita Leo Burnett Solutions Inc Art Director
Chandika Samaraweera Leo Burnett Solutions Inc Art Director
Jayana Silva Leo Burnett Solutions Inc Visualiser
Neelanie Goonetilleke Starcom Worldwide Sri Lanka Media Director
Nilusha Wanasinghe Starcom Worldwide Sri Lanka Senior Media Manager
Chandani Abeyratne Starcom Worldwide Sri Lanka Media Manager
Rameez Fazal Publicis Solutions Account Supervisor
Izky Faiz Publicis Solutions Account Manager
Nayanananda Perera Leo Burnett Solutions Inc Copywriter
Dileep Kulathunga Leo Burnett Solutions Inc Associate Creative Director

The Campaign

‘Temporarily’ removing sight from the sighted public to create empathy for the blind. Thereby, drawing attention to the cause, and generating response.

Creative Execution

We negotiated with the Media to hijack the most watched Teledrama in the country –‘Mey Adarayai’- with a viewership of over 80% of the total TV audience. We then picked the most intense 30 seconds in the actual Tele-drama and removed the visual component, leaving just the audio. As we took away the sight from the audience, and as they became irritated by the visual impairment, the TV screen read ‘if 30 seconds of blindness is this unbearable to you, imagine those who have to live with it for the rest of their lives. Please give them sight, when you don’t need it anymore’.

Results

The day after the activation, the organization received the highest number of ‘eye donation pledges’ they have received in a day. Since then, the number of call-ins and the walk-ins at Sri Lanka Eye Donation Society have tripled on average.

Interacting with audiences one-on-one, while reaching almost an entire nation with one single act, requires a great deal of understanding of their mindset at that moment of communication. The work, in its clever planning, directly reached out to the audience, and started an influential conversation at a rare moment in time when no one else is allowed to disrupt or talk to them.

Sri Lanka is predominantly a staunch Buddhist country. Lord Buddha firmly advocated the act of Dåna or giving, not just of material things but of one’s own self. Yet without a national donor registry, organ donation is usually a forgotten practice. Therefore we needed a disruption that could jolt the sighted Sri Lankan public into understanding that their privilege of sight could be shared with another. The fanaticism for Tele-dramas in Sri Lanka is the widest spread national obsession. So in it we found our medium for disruption.