Real Children - Heart touching !!!

A gut-wrenching commercial made for NSPCC (national society for prevention of cruelty to children) – UK by Saatchi and Saatchi UK in 2002 creating waves across UK and even outside. It escaped a TV ban narrowly despite receiving 127 complaints from all quarters.

The independent television commission-ITC then (and now Ofcom of UK), decided not to uphold complaints, including12 from victims of child abuse, which claimed the ad was ‘upsetting, shocking and had “overstepped the mark”.

ITC accepted that the ad was “extremely hard hitting” but agreed with the NSPCC’s defence that the particular imagery was “an effective means of communicating the seriousness of the issue and moving people to take action if they were concerned about a child”.

Few viewers complained  that the ad suggested that 'only men' abuse children and several other viewers said that, while raising awareness of child abuse was important, they felt the film’s treatment of the issue had overstepped the mark. It but went on to become one of the most decorated and awarded ads of its category….the rest is history.

Credits & Description:

Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi London
Production Company: Gorgeous Enterprises

Awards:
Cannes Lions - International Advertising Festival, 2002 (Gold Lion) for Fund-Raising & Appeals
BoB - Best of the Best Awards, 2002 for Best Commercials Director
British Television Craft Awards, 2002 (Winner) for Best Performance by an Actor
British Television Craft Awards, 2002 (Winner) for Best Animation
British Television Advertising Awards (BTAA), 2003 (TV Commercial of the Year)
The One Show, 2003 (Gold) for Public Service/Political Television Single
D&AD Awards, 2003 (Silver Award) for TV & Cinema Advertising Crafts: Use of Music
D&AD Awards, 2003 (Silver Award) for TV & Cinema Advertising: Public Service & Charities Individual & Campaigns
D&AD Awards, 2003 (Silver Award) for TV & Cinema Advertising Crafts: Direction
D&AD Awards, 2003 (Silver Award) for TV & Cinema Advertising Crafts: Animation
CLIO Awards, 2003 (Gold) for Product/Service: Public Service
CLIO Awards, 2003 (Silver) for Technique: Animation-Film
CLIO Awards, 2003 (Gold) for Technique: Direction
CLIO Awards, 2003 (Bronze) for Technique: Editing
Art Directors Club of Europe Awards, 2003 (Gold Winner) for Public Service & Charity
Kinsale Sharks Awards Advertising Festival, 2002 (Grand Prix Cinema)
Kinsale Sharks Awards Advertising Festival, 2002 (Worldwinner TV)
Kinsale Sharks Awards Advertising Festival, 2002 (Winner) for Best Sound Design
Kinsale Sharks Awards Advertising Festival, 2002 (Gold) for Public Services & Social Welfare
Advertising Creative Circle Awards, 2003 (Gold) for Best Idea in 60 Seconds or Over
Advertising Creative Circle Awards, 2003 (Gold) for Best Direction
Advertising Creative Circle Awards, 2003 (Gold) for NABS Charity Advertisement
Advertising Creative Circle Awards, 2003 (Gold) for Best Use of Animation
The Gunn Report, 2003 (02) for Most Awarded TV Ad

The team :-

Creative Director: David Droga
Art Director: Howard Willmott, Duncan Marshall
Copywriter: Howard Willmott, Duncan Marshall
Director: Frank Budgen
Producer: Paul Rothwell
Cameraman: Ben Seresin
Lighting Director / Lighting: Ben Seresin
Account Director: Norma Clarke, Stephen Corlett
Strategic Planner: Thea Tetley
Animation: Russell Brooke, Hugo Sands, Passion Pictures
Animation Effects: Chris Knott
Sound Designer: Nigel Crowley
Music Composer: Jonathan Goldstein
Actor / Celebrity: Johnny Harris
Brand Manager: Dugald McDougall
Animation Director: Russell Brooke
Animation Producer: Hugo Sands