Freak Week: Leap of Faith

Last week, as a Rutgers student’s bridge suicide was making headlines in the U.S., we covered a Serbian campaign from McCann Erickson aimed at tackling the problem in Belgrade. Facing truly horrific yearly suicide numbers, the city’s suicide-prevention office, working with McCann, projected a simple phrase, “You are not alone,” and a hotline number onto the water below Belgrade’s most notorious suicide spot, Branko’s bridge. Simple, direct and perfectly targeted to its audience, the effort drew praise from across the Internet, and even sparked discussion about whether something similar could work beneath the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.