TBWA\Zurich for RMHC: Parents must be able to be with their sick children
For 30 years, the Ronald McDonald Children’s Foundation (RMHC) has been providing parents of seriously ill children with overnight accommodations near hospitals. In its anniversary campaign, TBWA\Zurich is now, for the first time, shifting the focus away from the children’s suffering and onto that of the parents—because there is hardly anything worse than not being able to be there for your own child in an emergency.
At the heart of the campaign is a film in which a father and his daughter are accompanied through the years. Situations are shown in which the father empathizes with the girl's painful experiences. Because this is also part of being a parent: The love you feel for your child makes you unexpectedly vulnerable. That is why it is most important to always be there for them. However, this is often not possible in the case of serious illnesses - because many parents do not have the opportunity to make the often very long journey between home and hospital on a regular basis.
The Ronald McDonald Children's Foundation has six houses throughout Switzerland in the immediate vicinity of hospitals where parents of seriously ill children can stay overnight - even for longer periods and for a symbolic amount. In the houses, parents can continue their everyday lives as if they were at home: Being together, cooking, washing, relaxing and, above all, always being close to their sick children.
The foundation is largely financed by McDonalds. But customers can also make their contribution, for example by rounding up the amount of their order the next time they buy a burger.
The campaign's insight that parenthood also brings with it an unprecedented emotional vulnerability is musically supported by a cover version of the Platters classic "Only You". The light-hearted, cheerful love song is radically reinterpreted as a piece about emotional vulnerability.
The commercial can be seen in various lengths on TV, in cinemas and online and is supplemented on posters, banners and at the POS by a visual that implements the campaign sentence "Parents must be able to be with their sick children" in a striking way using only typography. The campaign has been on display throughout Switzerland since the end of February.
Responsible at the Ronald McDonald Children's Foundation/McDonalds Switzerland: Severine Caspard (Marketing Manager), Yvonne Mauer (Ronald McDonald Children's Foundation Switzerland). Responsible at TBWA\Zurich: Manuel Wenzel, Reto Clement, Martin Stulz, Katharina Binder (creation), Maryna Pavlichkova-Meier(consulting). Responsible at Czar Films: Marit Weerheijm (director), Martijn Melis (cinematographer), Florian Nussbaumer, Vincent Taeger (producers), Mokoh Music GmbH (music), DubDub Studios (sound design).
