American football is a time-honored tradition and a formative part of countless childhoods. In that environment, even the most compelling data would not be enough to garner attention and change parents’ beliefs.

The message needed an idea that:

Demonstrates the dangers

Relates to parents and coaches in a universal language

Disrupts current beliefs and captures attention while remaining medically accurate

Creates controversy to start conversations

Haunts adults’ decisions to support youth tackle football

Situation:

Data now prove that repeated hits over time pose the biggest threat for long-term, degenerative brain damage. The conversation is no longer about concussions. It’s about everyday hits. Every practice. Every game. Every single play adds to the risk.

Brief:

The creative director had a personal connection with the Concussion Legacy Foundation and approached the board with the idea. The board approved the idea and the production moved forward.

Objectives:

Compare the risk of youth tackle football to something so controversial that parents and coaches could no longer ignore the dangers the sport poses to young, developing brains.

Scalability:

This campaign grew from one small idea to an undeniable force for change.

Target audience:

Parents of children under 14 years of age.

Approach:

People are becoming more aware of the dangers of concussions for athletes. Concussions, however, are just part of the story.

Playing contact sports, especially American football, often results in repeated hits. Each hit causes brain trauma, even if it doesn’t cause a concussion. Over time, this adds up.

The earlier kids start playing tackle football, the longer they will experience repetitive hits, which increases the risk for CTE. This correlation between tackle football at a young age and developing CTE is stronger than that between smoking and developing lung cancer over time.

Parents wouldn’t let kids smoke, so why would we let them do something as dangerous as play tackle football before age 14?

Implementation:

The website and creative spot launched the day the clinical study was published in the Annals of Neurology. From there, the team executed a local and national news blitz that included live national interviews. Additionally, the Associated Press syndicated the PSA on local channels nationwide, and it aired on broadcast and connected TV.

Media Outputs:

The PSA was picked up by the AP for nationwide local coverage and every major national news network; covered extensively in print, television, online, and news media; featured in:

The NY Times, Washington Post, USA Today, and other major newspapers

ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX; creative director gave a live, national interview on HLN

Network shows like “The Doctors”

Parenting blogs, including ScaryMommy.com

Timeline:

Day 1 launch with immediate media coverage

Placement:

Both paid and organic placement on web and broadcast plus nationwide news outlets

Scale:

Scaled to become nationwide campaign for broadcast and digital

Reach:

More than 100 local TV news stations featured the PSA on morning and evening show segments, and most ran full packaged stories on the issue

Engagement:

Q4 website traffic increased 44% compared to the previous year, a record high for CLF

Nearly 77,000 visits from launch through mid-February 2020

Almost 4 million digital impressions

The PSA became by far the most watched video ever on CLF channels, earning 50% more views than the previous most watched video

Impact:

Total donations in the quarter after the PSA was released (Q4) were up 37% compared to the previous year

Sales:

Fundraising increased by 32% over the previous year:

Average donations in the month after the PSA was released were up 52% compared to the previous year

Achievement against business target:

Donations went up while enrollment in youth tackle football continued to go down.