Cannes Lions

Paul's Journey

TBWA\STOCKHOLM, Stockholm / SJ / 2017

Awards:

2 Shortlisted Cannes Lions
Case Film
Supporting Content

Overview

Entries

Credits

Overview

Description

A man sits on a train. As time passes, we realise that he's on a bigger journey than just between two cities. He slowly changes into a woman and steps off the train in a new city - starting a new life - to the song "This is the way I want to live".

Whoever you are, wherever you want to go, SJ will be there for you.

Execution

We contacted somebody who had actually taken this huge journey, not an actor, and asked if he would help us portray this message, this journey. We shot the film in early February and it went live a couple of weeks later.

SJ either goes big or not at all. They have media muscles when they decide to say something, so the film went live on national TV in Sweden's biggest tv-channels on prime time. And kept going.

Outcome

The long-term impact is hard to evaluate, since the campaign went live just a few weeks before this entry was written. But the fact that one of Sweden's biggest companies, the state-owned railways, decided to launch their new communication platform with a transvestite naturally had a huge impact.

A company that always get hammered in media for every railway-oriented problem in the country and blamed for every delay known to man kind, is suddenly talked about in a completely different way. And is suddenly at the forefront when people talk about inclusive and open-minded brands.

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