To really demonstrate how much the relatives of alcoholics suffer, too, we turned the gullet of a drinker into a well. There, a desperate family is being washed down in alcohol. With this creative choice we did not only put both victims of alcohol –the drinkers and their families– into an eloquent equation. We also “showed” a void at the position of the drinker’s heart, thus displaying the destructive power of alcohol and the emptiness it creates among families.

With a family being thrown into a dark well of alcohol, the two dramatic motives of this Blue Cross campaign –a man and a woman– evoke a very strong sensation. This effect is stressed by hard lighting and the hyper-realism of the motives. Unfortunately, alcohol is still not fully recognized by all members of society as a dangerous drug. This leaves the people who have an addict in their family alone with the problem, trying to sober them up on their own. To highlight this solitude and the danger of “leaning in too far”, we set the family as falling into a well. While this takes place in the body of an alcoholic who is slowly killing himself, the walls of the well slowly disintegrate into single bricks.

The added value of the communication results in an increased awareness among families and friends of alcoholics that the organization does not leave them out of the picture. In fact, while most organizations focus on addicts only, the Blue Cross makes its weight felt for all the forgotten family members that suffer as much as the alcoholics themselves. This unique positioning is of great value for the visibility of the organization – and of great importance for the worldwide fight against alcoholism.