Young & Rubicam Donates Ad Campaign to Covenant House
New Public Awareness Campaign Accentuates the Positive
January 17, 2005. VANCOUVER, BC. Young & Rubicam in Vancouver has donated the creative for Covenant House's new ad campaign which features transit shelter ads (TSAs), radio public service announcements (PSAs) and bill/wallboards.
Covenant House has also posted a billboard sized poster on the side of their Drake Street building that looks like a cardboard sign typically held by those who are homeless. It reads:
The longer the problem is ignored, the bigger it gets: help reduce homelessness
The new awareness campaign challenges people's preconceived notions about street youth by emphasizing that given the choice, no young person would choose the poverty, degradation and harshness of life on the streets, and that when it comes to our youth, "homeless" should never be equated with "hopeless".
"We were excited by the new direction that Covenant House wanted to take their advertising in this year" said Grant Fraggalosch , Creative Director at Young & Rubicam in Vancouver . "Rather than simply dramatizing the problem (as much public service advertising does), we agreed to focus on the solution and the optimism of turning a youth's life around. In so doing, we found that we could also better inform people as to the services that Covenant House provides. The use of outdoor and transit shelters allowed us to bring these messages to people in the environment where the issue exists" Fraggalosch added.
Michelle Clausius, Manager of Communications says "Under Grant's leadership, the Vancouver Y&R team were able to simultaneously expose life on the streets while showing what Covenant House to combat the problem of homelessness. We are thrilled with the campaign".
Listen to the radio ads:
- Finding a meal (MP3 file)
- Drugs (MP3)
- Spare some change? (MP3)