Tying together strength and cancer, Cronin & Co. developed a new film trailer for The Jimmy Fund.
The two-minute spot, titled "Strong as iron," features the true story about young cancer patients who formed friendships with construction workers building a new research center for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The children are shown communicating with the workers by taping signs with their names on the clinic's windows, and the workers respond by spray-painting the children's names across steel girders.
"People go to the movies to be entertained, and being whacked over the head with an intense topic like cancer could be very off-putting," said Cronin senior vice president and director of client services Kim Manning. "Our challenge was to develop a piece that would hit people in an emotional way and prompt them to donate money on the spot."
A major portion of the work for the trailer was done on a pro bono basis, according to Bill Cronin, president and chairman of the Glastonbury, Conn., agency.
The spot will debut June 9 in movie theaters on the East Coast and is designed to help raise $2 million for cancer research over a six-week period for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
--Rebecca Flas