Donate Life: The Worlds Biggest Asshole [case film]

Credits & Description:

Title: The Worlds Biggest Asshole
Agency: The Martin Agency
Brand: Donate Life
Country: USA
Entrant Company: The Martin Agency, Richmond
Advertising Agency: The Martin Agency, Richmond
Media Agency: The Martin Agency, Richmond
Pr Agency: The Martin Agency, Richmond
Production Company: Furlined, Los Angeles / The Mill, Los Angeles / Lime Studios, Santa Monica / Duotone Audio Group, New York / Cut + Run, Santa Monica
Additional Company: Donate Life America, Richmond
Chief Creative Officer: Joe Alexander (The Martin Agency)
Copywriter: Wade Alger (The Martin Agency)
Copywriter: Brig White (The Martin Agency)
Broadcast Producer: Steve Humble (The Martin Agency)
Managing Director: Chris Mumford (The Martin Agency)
Account Director: Audyn Orourke (The Martin Agency)
Account Executive: Cori Kaylor (The Martin Agency)
Account Executive: Carter Crenshaw (The Martin Agency)
Production Business Manager: Karen Taylor (The Martin Agency)
Group Project Management Supervisor: Danielle Cin (The Martin Agency)
Brand Communications Manager: Katherine Dorey (The Martin Agency)
Executive Producer: Lovechild (Furlined)
Director/Executive Producers: Speck And Gordon (Furlined)
President/Executive Producer: Diane Mcarter (Furlined)
Senior Executive Producer: David Thorne (Furlined)
Executive Producer: Jay Wakefield (Furlined)
Line Producer: Greg Schultz (Furlined)
Director Of Photography: Jeff Cutter (Furlined)
Production Designer: Andrew Reznik (Furlined)
Copywriter: Miranda Morgan (The Martin Agency)
Designer: Will Godwin (The Martin Agency)
Senior Digital Producer: Jill Mcgrath (The Martin Agency)
Execution:
From briefing to launch, it took 18 months to bring “The World’s Biggest Asshole” to life.To kick-off the campaign, we hosted a “wake,” where we had the first public screening of “The World’s Biggest Asshole.” We also had additional “Asshole” executions including cinema, banners, out-of-home, and a Snapchat filter.Because millennial men consume content online and are active on social networks, we anchored the campaign on YouTube. Additionally, by posting under a character’s name, rather than a Donate Life account, we kept the PSA aspect of the work a secret until the reveal at the end of the film. This helped incite organic sharing.After launch, the core video went viral and was viewed more than 80 million times in 76+ countries.The immense impact of the video lasted over a month, with the ripple effect continuing for many months following.
Strategy:
Millennial men are the lost generation. They aren't phased by heart wrenching PSAs and don't consume traditional media. It's no wonder they severely under-index in registration numbers. But that doesn’t mean they're heartless. We found that millennial men enjoy watching long format videos online and have an appreciation for dark humor. "The World's Biggest Asshole" was anchored on YouTube. By posting the video under a character's pseudonym the video's entertainment value was maintained, which in turn kept our target's attention. Entertainment sites like The Onion, BroBible, Reddit, and Funny Or Die picked up the content and snowballed it into an organic message. While the millions of views and garnered press were nice to have, we had one simple, life-changing, and measurable goal for this campaign: increase millennial men's registrations numbers.
Outcome:
“The World’s Biggest Asshole” was viewed more than 60 million times in the first two weeks. During this time donor registrations went from 149 people/day to 1,022 people per day, a 698% increase. As for the specific demographics, millennial registrations were up 1,650% in this time period and millennial men in particular were up 215%. In the 4 weeks after-launch, more than 30,000 total donors were added to the registry.In sum, a generation of donors with the potential impact on 840,000 lives was registered.
Campaign Description:
The World’s Biggest Asshole is a two-minute film introducing Coleman Sweeney, played by Thomas Jane and narrated by Will Arnett. Coleman is seen throwing bottles of piss from trucks, stealing panties from the laundromat and showing zero respect for anyone. But when Coleman dies, he goes from asshole to hero all because it turns out that Coleman was an organ donor.
Synopsis:
Young men aren’t afraid to die. Public service messages that use the usual scare tactics, just doesn’t pack the punch to inspire action. So how does Donate Life, the world’s largest organ and tissue donation registry, get these guys to sign up and become organ donors?