In this radio ad you hear a female voice calling out several names, and every name is followed by the word “absent”. At the end of the ad, the voiceover explains that all these names should have been sitting in class today, but they aren’t. The reason for this, is that they are the names of pupils who are still missing on this day. At the end of the ad, she asks parents and other listeners to keep sharing every missing person notice on social media.

The ad was aired just once, on September 1st, at 8.30 am. In Belgium, this is the exact time when the school bell rings for the first time on the first day of school. Just moments after parents dropped off their kids and are back in their car, the ad was aired to make it as impactful and confronting as possible.