Change the Ref Inc. - "The Lost Class" / David Keene & John Lott (2021)

For at least two decades now, at least in Europe and East Asia, people have made visual demonstrations to make a point. They either place ten thousand women's shoes on a public square to represent all the women killed or some other object to represent something similar. We've seen it in Spain, Italy, The Netherlands, Sweden, the UK, Singapore, Hong Kong, and pretty much everywhere at this point. Well, now we get to see it in an American PSA too! The difference between this and countless other demonstrations on that same concept is that this one is shot by Hungry man, which means it's excellently done, and I'm sure it'll win many awards because it becomes so emotionally touching. But so did the base concept of ten thousand white shoes when I saw it the first time. You can go far on a great seed of an idea.  There is also an excellent twist to this. The former NRA President David Keene and prominent economist and gun advocate John Lott were invited to speak at the graduation of "James Madison Academy", a fictional institution. As Keene and Lott walked on stage to face 3,044 empty chairs, each representing a would-be graduate of the class of 2021 who lost their life to gun violence, they were forced to face the consequences head-on. So at least two people may have been converted.

Client: Change the Ref Inc.
Ad Agency: Leo Burnett, Chicago