BBDO New York collaborated with clients Johnson & Johnson, Campbell Soup Company and AT&T Wireless to create a commercial message designed to raise autism awareness and educate viewers of the importance of early detection, timed to coincide with the end of Autism Awareness Month.
Four 15 second spots that air sequentially combine to form a story arc of a child growing up with autism. Three of those spots also acts as ads for Band-Aid, Campbell’s Soup, and AT&T. Following the last spot, which features a recent graduate and his proud parents, played by a real autism sufferer and his parents (who appear in the other ads as well), the sequence concludes with the message, “You just saw how early diagnosis can make a lifetime of difference. Watch again or learn the signs at www.autismspeaks.org/signs.” This sequence is scheduled to air one time today on the CNN program New Day, and will then live online at YouTube and the Autism Speaks website, with a digital extension expected to run courtesy of Undertone. “Autism affects around one in 68 children in the U.S. However, research reveals that with early diagnosis and early intervention, behavioral therapies can improve outcomes,” explained Andrew Robertson, president & CEO, BBDO Worldwide and Autism Speaks board member.
BBDO New York chief creative officer Greg Hahn added, “With April being Autism Awareness month, we were looking for a way to dramatically tell this story. We found it through a partnership with our brilliant clients who eagerly embraced the convention-breaking, innovative spirit of the idea. The result is an ad that’s like the Super Friends of public education messages.”