South Africans are bombarded with bad news on a daily basis. So much so, that many of us simply switch off or switch channels when the news comes on. This is especially true when it comes to radio, as a catchy pop song or chatty DJ are not only better listening than stories of human suffering but they’re also just a button push away.

But child abandonment is simply something we cannot afford to ignore. So we decided to break this habit by breaking through the clutter and creating a piece of content that listeners could not ignore. The idea was to air a hard-hitting advert simultaneously across major radio networks, ensuring that changing channels wouldn’t change the message.

The execution tells the story of baby Jane Doe, a newborn baby that has been abandoned in a bin in a public bathroom. Our voiceover describes, in detail, the horrific and heartbreaking fate that awaits Jane Doe if someone does not find her. She then goes on to acknowledge that listeners may not want to hear this and may have even tried to change stations by now but, much like Jane Doe cannot escape the reality of child abandonment in South Africa, nor can they. The advert ends with a plea for listeners to stop changing stations and start changing lives by SMSing our unique SMS number and donating R20.

We were able to reach 497,000 listeners during our initial flighting. On top of many generous donations, a number of these listeners phoned the Lonely Road and offered something even more valuable – their time. From everyday people offering to volunteer their time to business people offering to donate their services and expertise, the foundation was able to create some long-lasting, beneficial relationships that would have been unlikely otherwise. Local media also picked up on the story and numerous online articles were written about the campaign. As a result of this coverage, a spokesperson for Lonely Road was asked for an interview on a prominent talk show, giving them an even bigger platform to spread their message.