Beast was approached by PR agency, Fugu PR to create a Christmas Spot for their client the Brighton Housing Trust. The brief was simple. They wanted to generate awareness and urgently needed donations over the Christmas period.
BHT gave us some case studies as part of the research to help us with the development. What stood out to us, was the amount of stories that centered around very normal people and families. What was heartbreaking was the unfortunate chain of events that lead these families to become homeless. Many people just lost control of their finances because of a job loss, or unexpected bills.
With only two weeks to deliver the final video, we took just 24 hours to come up with a host of ideas. But with such a short time frame we had to be practical as well as creative. We wanted to highlight how quickly any of us could get into trouble. The advent calendar was the perfect metaphor to show this.
A family face a sad reality when a chain of events told through the timeline of an advent calendar leave them homeless on Christmas Eve.
Our story centers around a family heading into the advent period. The catalyst for their downward spiral comes from the dad finding out he has lost his job. The calendar then reveals over a number of days that they have missed some important payments, including their rent. With credit cards already maxed out, in four weeks, they have no choice but to leave their family home.
Brighton Housing Trust offers a fantastic ‘First Base’ for people to go to. They provide emotional support, qualified advisors, food and a hot shower to help people get back on their feet. Our campaign title #WhoWouldYouTurnTo has become the catalyst for an additional social media campaign that we have developed with Fugu PR that will run in the new year. Watch this space!
