Why is this work relevant for PR?

It's about efforts to make the day of the earthquake a memorial day in order to prevent repeated earthquake damage in Japan. We achieved the goal by changing the attitudes (behavior changes) and behaviors (actions) of people who started to forget the earthquake.

Background

Six years had passed since the great earthquake struck Japan. In Iwate, the area struck by the earthquake, memories of the disaster had already started fading among people. However, Iwate has experienced many major earthquakes in the past. Also, the faded memories may cause greater damage in a future disaster. The aim was to stop memories from fading and to help prevent further disasters.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

The memory of the great earthquake had been already fading in Japan. However, disaster may occur again. Therefore, we motioned to make the day when the earthquake occurred an official memorial day. We told the stories of regrets of the victim's family and collected signatures through the ads for four years. We moved politics, and a memorial day has finally been enacted.

Describe the PR strategy (30% of vote)

To pass on the tragic stories of the earthquake and to help prevent further disaster, we motioned for enactment to set March 11th, when the great earthquake struck, to the official memorial day of the prefecture. If March 11th becomes a memorial day, the media will keep reporting "Today is XX Day" every year. Then, the lessons learned from the disaster will be passed on for hundreds of years

Describe the PR execution (20% of vote)

Every year from 2017, Iwate Nippo has released newspaper ads and TV commercials under the theme of "Tomorrow Never Comes" on March 11th. By the ads reminiscent of the tragedies from the earthquake, we called on the citizens of Iwate to sign their support for the petition to enact the memorial day. There were two ways to submit signatures. Sign on the Iwate Nippo site or sign on newspaper ads and mail them. In addition, Iwate Nippo also reported the number of signatures on the newspapers every month and appealed for more.

List the results (30% of vote)

The ads have become hot topics and made the Twitter trend. Over 23,000 signatures have been collected in four years including from many celebrities. Featured many times on national broadcasts. ? The governor, the head of Iwate prefecture, also gave a favorable comment. Unanimously approved by the prefectural assembly. From 2021, March 11th became the official memorial day of Iwate prefecture.