Still Life [video]

Credits & Description:

Title: Still Life
Agency: Mccann Tokyo
Brand: The End Als Association
Country: Japan
Entrant Company: Mccann Tokyo
Advertising Agency: Mccann Tokyo
Pr Agency: Vector Group, Tokyo
Production Company: Mccann Tokyo / Aoi Pro., Tokyo / Office Saku, Tokyo
Additional Company: Robot Communications, Tokyo / Craft Worldwide, Tokyo / Utix Inc., Tokyo
Executive Creative Director: Isamu Nakamura (Mccann Erickson Japan)
Strategic Planning Director: Masahiro (Hiro) Fujita (Mccann Erickson Japan)
Creative Planner: Chiharu Ozaki (Mccann Erickson)
Art Director: Yasuaki Kurata (Mccann Erickson Japan)
Art Director: Shotaro Adachi (Mccann Erickson Japan)
Art Director: Yuki Saito (Mccann Erickson Japan)
Creative Planner: Ryosuke Yoshitomi (Mccann Erickson Japan)
Planner: Akihiro Orimo (Mccann Erickson Japan)
Agency Producer: Kiyoshi Kindo (Mccann Erickson Japan)
Digital Producer: Mai Fukuda (Craft Worldwide Japan)
Translator: Kaori Mochizuki (Mccann Erickson Japan)
Film Director: Satomi Inagaki (Office Saku)
Cinematographer: Asami Koyama (K Fibe Inc.)
Producer: Junichi Murata (Aoi Pro.)
Producer: Taisuke Shirasawa (Aoi Pro.)
Production Manager: Mana Hashimoto (Aoi Pro.)
Photographer: Hana Takemoto (Freelancer)
Editor: Sho Tominaga (Robot Inc.)
Producer: Taku Kubo (Robot Inc.)
Music Composer: Yuta Yamashita (Styrism)
Digital Producer: Hideyuki Kodama (Utix Inc.)
Art Director: Eiji Nishida (Craft Worldwide Japan)
Editor: John Woodward (Craft Worldwide Japan)
Creative Director: Hirofumi Hayashi (Dentsu Inc.)
Strategic Planner: Masahiko Futara (Hakuhodo Inc.)
Pr Director: Miyoko Ohki (Mccann Worldgroup Japan)
Film Director: Kensaku Kakimoto (Office Saku)
Art Director: Midori Nissato (Freelance)
Brief with projected outcomes:
Japan is the world’s 2nd largest consumer healthcare market, with very rigid pharmaceutical promotion regulations. Japan is usually the final major launch market for pharmaceuticals, partially because of the intense bureaucracy and partially because of a “wait-and-see” approach to see how drugs fare in other markets.
Relevancy:
Because the purpose of this project is to create PR by one simple / low budget idea, which is for an ALS patient to serve as a model. We aimed to draw PR attention by juxtaposing the two unrelated idea "ALS" and "model", which could have an impact not only in the healthcare context, but also in the context of Art, Design, and even in pop culture.
Campaign Description:
The idea is to use an ALS patient as a model for still-life painting, to illuminate the cruelty of his disease. “Still life” usually refers to an inanimate object used as a subject of art. The idea is simple, ironic, and heartbreaking, that an ALS patient, who is only capable of eye movement, calls himself a "still-life" and puts himself out in public as a model for art. It was something ALS patients can actively and physically participate despite their condition. The video is especially meaningful as an online project, because, for ALS patients that have lost their ability to move, a computer operated by eye movement is their only means of remaining connected with the world. A moving image is also an effective way to accentuate, through contrast, the immobility and stillness that ALS forces upon its sufferers.
Outcome:
The event was also covered by Japan’s national TV channel for its documentary TV program, and multiple media and exhibition spaces offered the use of their space for free to display the artworks. The sale of the official END ALS T-shirt doubled compared to the previous month. In the end, a total of $4 million worth of earned media was generated and continues to increase. Outdoor Visions were given to be used for free to show the film. Seeing the online film, 4 different ALS patients strongly empathized with the cause and volunteered to become still-life models. So far, 2 more ALS patients are scheduled to model this year. The collected artworks can be views on the END ALS website's gallery https://end-als.com/#still
Execution:
Hiro, who suffers from ALS, called out to people on social media asking them to come draw/paint him as a subject for a still life. The event took place at a gallery space in Marunouchi, one of the busiest places in Tokyo with heavy people traffic. Participants and passersby that saw him in his condition were compelled to think about a disease they hadn’t been familiar with and the ordeal that patients had to endure. The sight of Hiro drew much attention. Artists of all levels came to participate and the finished works covered the walls of the gallery, helping to attract more attention and interest. The event was documented as a film and was posted online on June 21st, the World ALS Day. Also the film has been offered to show on outdoor visions in Harajuku and Shinjuku district of Tokyo.
Synopsis:
Since the 19th century, ALS research has made no significant breakthroughs in the treatment.Today, there are 10,000 ALS patients in Japan. Although tracheotomy is available, 70% choose not to, as they fear that sustaining their own life could be “burden” for their families, emotionally and financially, in the absence of sufficient insurance coverage and support given by the current national insurance system. There is little hope and fight which patients can rely on.Our goal is to penetrate through the cultural barrier of communicating in a round about way and make ALS known, and eventually create a social movement to fund research for a cure, and put pressure on the government and medical institutions to find a cure. In Japan, people with disabilities avoid public attention due to a cultural stigma of shame. We decided to use this as an advantage to launch this stunt.
Strategy:
Taking advantage of the fact that, in Japan, people with disabilities tended to hide themselves from the public from a strong sense of shame that is deeply embedded in Japanese culture, Hiro, an ALS patient currently only capable of eye movement, decided to intentionally put himself on display to illuminate the cruelty of the disease and to provoke people into thinking. We had Hiro appear at an open gallery space in Tokyo, where not only visitors to the gallery, but passersby could clearly see his condition. This was a way to shock the Japanese audience and powerfully engage their attention.