Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

This work creates an on-site experience that is culturally relevant to raise awareness among Buddhists about the negative health effects of them giving food as alms to monks. It is activated with an installation and mobile location-based in various strategic locations such as the Priest Hospital, Buddhism learning center, temple and local markets, where many Buddhists usually go, especially during the Thai New Year, the peak season of merit making. It aims to create a provoking experience and provide solutions through digital media to end the monks’ health epidemic.

Describe any restrictions or regulations regarding Healthcare/RX/Pharma communications in your country/region including:

Buddhist ecclesiastical law prohibits monks from refusing food and doing exercise. Thai monk medicare is solely taken care by Priest Hospital, making it inadequately accessible. After the campaign, National Buddhism Association amend food offering policy and urged Health Ministry to assist Priest Hospital in providing nation-wide monk health check-ups.

Describe the target audience and why your work is relevant to them.

95% of Thais are Buddhist. Offering food to monks is a Buddhist merit-making ritual. But the meals offered are low in quality. 65% of 300,000 monks suffer from obesity, the gateway to other chronic diseases. Therefore, We urged Buddhists to choose alms giving food that benefit monk health.

Background

95% of Thais are Buddhists and they are unaware of being the cause of the monkhood’s health crisis: 70% of the 300,000 monks suffer from chronic diseases. This ‘obesity epidemic’ caused by unhealthy almsgiving has rocketed the monks’ average BMI (Body Mass Index) from 18.0 to 41.6 within the past 10 years. This causes USD 30 million for the annual medical care. For over 2,500 years, giving food as alms is a daily ritual that the monks depend on to survive and a way for the Buddhists to connect with ancestors. Nowadays, the ancestors’ favourite dishes including unhealthily indulgent, high fat and sugar foods are given to monks, in the hopes that they would be enjoying them in the afterlife. Buddhist ecclesiastical law also stipulates that monks cannot refuse the food, and, because of their revered status, exercise is considered unseemly. We want to enlighten Buddhists and reshape their behaviour.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

“Making Merit or Creating Hurt” is a thought-provoking experience, a collaboration between 2 non-profit organisations; the Priest Hospital and the Baramee Dhamma Hall, a Buddhist learning center. The idea is curated by turning the medium that spiritually connects with the Buddhists, ‘the monk sculpture’ into an installation that raises awareness about the monkhood’s health issues caused by unhealthy food given as alms. Within 4 weeks during Thai New Year, the peak season for merit making, the installation transforms from an average-built, life-sized figure into a shockingly obese monk. It was strategically displayed outdoors at the hospital, learning center, temples and local markets, which are locations where the audience regularly visits, to provoke them at the moment of merit making. Mobile Location-Based technology is utilized to provide information about obesity and chronic diseases visually related to the sculpture and offer solutions of nutritious meals that will improve the health of monks.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

The target audience are Buddhists who are unaware of being the root cause of the monk’s health crisis. They are giving food as alms every day with the outdated belief that their ancestors would be enjoying such foods in the afterlife. Sweet desserts, low-quality instant meals, foods that are high in MSG, fried foods with high fat and high sugar beverages are among the top list of the foods being given to the monks. Our approach is to provoke the target with an on-spot experience in merit making-related locations and seasons and show them the shocking side effects of their good deeds. Through the installation and mobile location-based technology we provide consumers with solutions of how they can improve the health of the monkhood.

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

“Making Merit or Creating Hurt” is brought to life with the following steps: 1. An Installation of lifesized Buddha sculptures, by Thailand’s most renowned sculptor. Over 4 weeks the installation is transformed from a healthy monk into a shockingly obese monk to provoke and create curiosity among merit makers who usually visit merit making venues. They are engraved with a Buddhism proverb, “To Make Merit is To Choose Correctly for the Recipient.” An event was organized at the learning center to engage with the audience. 2.Location-based advertising: reaches a wider group of targeted audience real-time across Thailand specifically in hospitals, temples and local markets. An MMS with a virtual exhibition link is sent to tell the shocking story of the health epidemic. Each chronic disease is visually connected with each part of the sculpture anatomy and is supported by VDO. Nutrition food recipes for monks are provided as a solution.

List the results (30% of vote)

Business impact • 800% increase in calls to the Priest Hospital, requesting the health and dietary guide for monks • 1.1 M+ interaction social media in 1 week • 1.2 M+ downloads of the recipes • 600%raise in donation to Priest Hospital. Response rate • Earned media valued 96,539 USD • 70 M+ campaign impressions Change in behavior • National Buddhism Association calls for urgency inadding ‘the health and wellbeing of the monks’ in the Buddhism handbook. The 2,500-years-old merit making of food offering has been shaped to change the future of health of the monks in Thailand. • Key opinion leaders; respected monks, local opinion leaders, social influencers and media express their positive feedback towards the campaign and urge Thais to be more considerate towards the monks’ health through food-offering.