The question of the importance of education in society is polarised. We chose to work with a range of people from those with highest levels of education to those who felt education hadn’t been that important to them. Many people fail to understand the significance access to education can have for displaced children.

to demonstrate this we will take members of society from all walks of life - including doctors, students, parole officers and teachers and hypnotise them into temporary illiteracy, and then ask to perform basic tasks such as reciting the alphabet, telling the time or writing their name. We allowed them to feel first hand what a life without education could be, and put themselves just for a moment in the shoes of one of the 3.6 million refugee children currently facing an incredibly uncertain future.

From brief to launch we had five weeks to pitch, win, execute & launch this video piece.

The film was designed for social channels, made with 1:1 format and burnt in subtitles so easy to watch and comprehend with & without sound. The film lead directly to a petition for people to take immediate action having seen the film.

Strategic paid, PR & influencer strategy led to high levels of organic sharing and earned media, bringing the topic to a global stage.

The film aired a week before the summit and had a huge impact, rapidly gaining nearly 4 million views and nearly 200,000 total petition signatures, knocking all KPIs out of the water. World leaders made education a priority and have pledged to get 1 million more refugee children back to school. An incredible first step.

In addition he thought-provoking experiment was widely covered by the likes of The Independent, Mashable and The Drum, and many others, including a notable share from Sacha Baron Cohen.