We created an unwatchable film, called STOP THE HORROR.

It was released as a horror film by Australian director Justin Kurzel (Assassin’s Creed, Snowtown), with trailers, director interviews and an official Facebook page used to draw people into the “new movie”.

STOP THE HORROR immersed the viewer in the true story of Greg Sims as it recounted his brutal last days. It captured the unrelievable pain and unnecessary suffering he had to endure at the end of his life.

It was so distressing an on-screen ‘Stop The Horror’ button was included so the viewer could escape the film. Once clicked, we revealed that Greg Sims did not have that same right - he could not escape the horror. We then gave the viewer the contact details of their local politicians so they could express their support for voluntary assisted dying. They could take action to truly stop the horror.

The campaign launched on 14 September 2017 in Facebook by seeding the film’s premiere with an official page and video trailers. This was all backed by a targeted Victoria-first strategy to engage existing advocates and new millennial audiences.

To maximise the value of our $20,000 media budget, this digital-first campaign was focussed on generating intrigue and talkability.

In PR, we used a phased outreach strategy backed by issues planning, key messaging and bespoke media packages. We used digital media exclusives at launch, with a focus on news and culture to ignite rapid social sharing. A major TV exclusive was secured to supercharge the debate.

All social and PR content drove audiences to our website where they could watch the 6-minute film. A data capture page allowed us to contact viewers directly with facts about voluntary assisted dying that the viewer could use when contacting their local politician.

Stop The Horror went viral within 24 hours of the launch, with the average viewer watching 3min 15sec of the film before hitting the ‘Stop The Horror’ button.

The campaign made headlines on local and international news platforms – including features in The Australian, Mamamia, The Project, The Mirror (UK), UNILAD (UK), CNN Chile (Chile) plus outlets in Ireland, Peru, USA, Mexico.

Total earned media = $4.2m

Total reach = +280M

190,000+ sessions

10,000+ petition submissions

Arguably, the only result that matters is that, for the first time in history, parliament legalised voluntary assisted dying.

Victoria is now the only state in Australia with such a law.

To ensure Victoria legalised Voluntary Assisted Dying for the first time in history, Go Gentle Australia wanted to elicit a direct response from the public. We needed the public to put pressure on politicians. We used the horrifying true story of a terminally ill patient to drive action. At the click of a button, Stop The Horror gave the viewer a detailed plan to get involved. Using the viewer’s postal code, we provided a phone number, email address and physical address of their local politician so they could contact their representative and express support for this law.

Typically, the subject of voluntary euthanasia draws the attention of an older audience. However, we needed the public to start a conversation with politicians. So we chose to widen the base of our audience. We believed that by getting a younger, more activist-driven demographic to be part of that conversation, it would be difficult for politicians to ignore the message.

The problem, however, is that most people aren’t drawn to the subject of voluntary assisted dying. Research showed that personal stories about end of life choices provide a powerful mechanism to drive support, but people don’t necessarily want to engage with such harrowing truths.

We realised the need to show the reality of life for a terminally ill patient in a way that drew people into our message before they shut off. Then, once we had their attention, we could explain how they could help by directly contacting local politicians.

There are many terminally ill patients for whom there is no treatment or medication to relieve their pain and discomfort. Without a voluntary assisted dying law, these patients experience the most unbearable suffering before they pass away from their illness.

Despite the fact that this is a horrific way to die, there was no law in Australia that allowed for voluntary assisted dying. In fact, there have been 30 previous attempts to pass a voluntary assisted dying law in Australia. None of them have succeeded. In 2017, a new Bill was introduced in Victorian parliament.

Our brief, from Go Gentle Australia, was to get the public to engage actively with politicians and express their support for this law so that lawmakers felt confident enough to make a bold, historic change to the legislation.

The objective was simple, but daunting: change Victorian law so that voluntary assisted dying is legalised.