Title | NO-ESCAPE ROOM |
Brand | PARKINSON’S NSW |
Product / Service | PARKINSON’S NSW |
Category | B03. Fundraising & Advocacy |
Entrant | WUNDERMAN THOMPSON Sydney, AUSTRALIA |
Idea Creation | WUNDERMAN THOMPSON Sydney, AUSTRALIA |
Production | AIRBAG Sydney, AUSTRALIA |
Post Production | AIRBAG Sydney, AUSTRALIA |
Name | Company | Position |
---|---|---|
Simon Langley | Wunderman Thompson Australia | Chief Creative Officer |
Simon Koay | Wunderman Thompson Australia | Associate Creative Director |
Steven Hey | Wunderman Thompson Australia | Associate Creative Director |
Ana Lynch | Wunderman Thompson Australia | Partner |
Rebekah O'Grady | Wunderman Thompson Australia | Engagement Manager |
Gabriel Hammond | Wunderman Thompson | Senior Producer |
Chloe Marshall | Wunderman Thompson Australia | Integrated Producer |
Kel Gronow | Wunderman Thompson Australia | Editor |
Will Horne | AIRBAG | Director |
Adrian Bosich | AIRBAG | Managing Partner |
Alex Tizzard | AIRBAG | Executive Producer |
Megan Ayers | AIRBAG | Producer |
Alex Guterres | Freelance | Editor |
Zachary Peel | Freelance | Director Of Photography |
Julia Lahav | BCW | Account Director |
Chloe Peel | BCW | Account Manager |
Georgia Neville | BCW | Account Executive |
The No Escape Room was primarily a physical installation designed to put young people in the shoes of people living with Parkinson's. It enabled groups of young people to take part in a series of challenges that simulated Parkinson's symptoms, to gain a better understanding of how life would be with the disease.
Most people believe that Parkinson's is 'an old person's disease' and that it only really causes a physical tremor. In fact, 5 Australians under 40 are diagnosed with Parkinson's every day, and the symptoms are much more wide ranging, including confusion, memory loss, stiffness, inability to walk, blurred vision and many more. We needed to help a younger audience better understand the realities of the disease.
The No Escape Room was designed to simulate what life is like for people living with Parkinson's. It was created in partnership with Gavin, someone that was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson's, to recreated a series of everyday tasks: entering a laptop password, tying shoe laces, completing a puzzle, pouring a teapot and looking at pictures on a wall. Each challenge simulated a real Parkinson's symptom: memory loss, stiffness, confusion, tremor, blurred vision. Australian escape room enthusiasts were contacted via Facebook groups to be the first people to trial a new room. They didn’t know the true meaning behind the room until the end of the experience, when Gavin appeared and revealed the message to them. We created a supporting website where people could try virtual versions of the challenges and read more about the symptoms and Gavin's story.
The primary target for the campaign was people aged 40 and under - a younger group than typically targeted by Parkinson's awareness campaigns. We needed to build awareness and deeper understanding among that group, in order to dispel some long-held myths about how Parkinson's affects peoples' lives. Rather than simply telling them about the wide range of symptoms, the campaign opted to dramatise how those symptoms would affect their own lives, effectively putting groups of younger people in the shoes of Parkinson's sufferers in order to provide a powerful example of what life would be like.
The experience was built over three days, with multiple hidden cameras built into the room structure to capture the experience of participants as they completed the series of puzzles inspired by everyday tasks. The activation ran over a weekend in early March 2020, when escape room enthusiasts were invited to take part and trial a 'new pop up escape room' without knowing the true meaning behind the experience, before being questioned about their experiences. The resulting online video ran on Youtube and Facebook, and was covered on radio and social sites. An interactive site recreated the No Escape Room virtually at www.noescaperoom.com.au. The campaign raised awareness of the daily challenges of those living with Parkinson’s, as well as contributing to fundraising to support Parkinson’s NSW with research and initiatives that improve the wellbeing of people living with Parkinson’s, as the search for a cure continues.
The campaign put people in the shoes of those living with Parkinson's, reaching audiences in 56 countries. The campaign has gained a lot of attention and created discussion among the Parkinson's community globally. Parkinson's NSW are now in discussions to create a permanent No Escape Room so the message reaches an even wider audience.
Video URL | Supporting Webpage