How an Ad Agency Created a Jaw-Dropping Fake Graduation to Protest Gun Violence

Leo Burnett and Change the Ref duped an NRA leader into speaking to empty seats representing 3,044 victims

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On a sunny day in early June, David Keene, board member and former president of the National Rifle Association, thinks he is delivering a graduation speech to a high school in Las Vegas. Dressed in a black cap and gown with a bright yellow sash, he stands at a podium and tells the students of John Madison Academy, “Follow your dream and make it a reality.” 

Before him stretches a sea of empty white chairs, hiding a chilling truth behind this ceremony.

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