Our budget was very limited, and the restrictions because of the nature of the client where many. We decided to realize a direct action. Buy 50 seats for that important game at the National Stadium. And leave them complete empty during the match and the tv transmissions, to create and empty spot on the landscape of the stadium, that could be seen on TV cameras. To organically get the attention of the press, the fans at the venue and the TV audience, and create awareness by igniting the conversation about lung cancer instead of soccer football. Why 50 seats? Cause according to the Ministry of Health and data provided by a survey of the client, we knew that every two months 50 people die of lung cancer in the country.

First, we needed to be able to buy 50 consecutive seats, at the opposite side of all the press and media balconies, right in front of where the tv cameras will be located. Since it was an official game between national teams, we also required special permission from FIFA to do that.

The task wasn't easy, on July 17th the tickets were released and oversold in 5 hours.

Then, on September the 5th, the day of the game, we had to be there early to keep those 50 seats empty, since there would more than 35 thousand other fans at the stadium looking for the best spot to watch the game. The placed was packed with fans, police and tight security controls. But it also offered a great mix of mediums, with almost 700 journalists on the field.

With a 180 seconds action we captured the attention of the TV cameras and the people. 95% of the population of Costa Rica was reached; Around 700 reporters were at the stadium, and most of them were intrigued trying to find why those seats were empty. So at the end, 8 out of 10 media groups talked about lung cancer and that it kills 50 people every two months. During the match and even weeks after, with special programs. We became trending topic on the most important digital news paper, with thousand comments on social media, about the action. All these without mentioning all the fans that were at the stadium, around 35.000, they where surprised, sharing pictures and amplifying the action. A lot mention that they had family members who past away because of lung cancer, they felt empathy towards the activation.