London - A new campaign from the NSPCC encouraging individuals to mobilise and play their part in ending cruelty with a "click" breaks on Monday 15 October.
The multi-platform campaign will demonstrate how individual actions can, and do, contribute to ending abuse and will call on the public to join in taking action against child abuse. The campaign, the latest drive in the NSPCC's FULL STOP Campaign, includes compelling TV and print executions from Saatchi & Saatchi.
According to research commissioned by the NSPCC in March 2007, whilst 84 per cent of people asked said they were willing to take action to prevent cruelty to children, nearly half of people questioned for the research said they didn't know what to do to prevent cruelty to children from occurring.
The NSPCC campaign illustrates simple actions people can take to contribute to ending child cruelty. The TV campaign encourages people to visit www.bethefullstop.com to find out more about how they can get involved.
Once on the site, visitors can commit to a number of "deeds" which include signing a petition, joining a local campaign or making a donation. People can also get information on how they can help end cruelty to children as individuals, with a group or as part of an organisation.
Sixty, thirty and ten second versions of the TV ad will run during the four-week campaign. In the 60 second spot, we see a young girl on her journey home from school. She spends the journey in an escapist fantasy world where she can make things happen with a "click".
A young girl walks from school to the park with an imaginary giraffe by her side. In the park she twirls round and round under a tree. She looks heavenward and shouts "click" and a large juicy apple falls from the tree and lands in her hands. She remains in her fantasy world for the majority of the ad as she continues her journey through the park and on a bus.
As the girl gets within sight of her house, we can see a change in her mood. Her face is filled with apprehension and her footsteps become increasingly timid as she walks the final few metres towards her house. As she enters the house and the door "clicks" shut, the music stops for a second and we know that something is wrong.
We cut to the girl sitting alone in her bedroom on the edge of her bed. The look of fear on her face is now impossible to ignore.
We hear the front door bang shut again. This time it is followed by footsteps on the stairs. Again our heroine utters the word "click" several times in the hope that she can stop the footsteps. She lacks the conviction she had in the earlier sequence. As the ad closes, a voiceover says, "She can't change things with a click. You can at bethefullstop.com" and the final frame shows a cursor moving over the caption, "bethefullstop.com".
The "click" theme is continued in the print campaign which focuses on four key areas around the UK - Newcastle, Sheffield, Crawley and Bristol - to complement the NSPCC launching locally-targeted campaigns for the first time in these areas.
The print ads, which will appear in press and on bus panels, juxtapose the everyday setting of a computer screen with stark messages. In one of the ads, the web address appears across the screen, www.stopdannyfeelinglikethepieceofdirthismumsaysheis.com. In another execution, a dialogue box offers the familiar option to click "yes" or "no" to the question "Permanently remove Helen's uncle from Helen's bed?"
Kate Stanners, executive creative director, Saatchi & Saatchi said, "Overwhelmingly, people want to take action to end child abuse, but some just don't know how they can get involved. This campaign shows that we can all be part of the solution starting with just a "click". The TV and print ads are a powerful reminder of the horrors that occur every day in so many abused children's lives."
John Grounds, Director of Communications, NSPCC said, "It is vital we all play a part in ending child abuse. There are very simple steps we can all take, whether as individuals or collectively. The campaign this autumn will demonstrate how our individual actions can, and do contribute to ending cruelty to children."
The TV and print work will run from Monday 15 October for four weeks. Eoghain Clarke and Julian Andrews are the creatives behind the TV and print ads.