Unseen Faces addressed a social issue using an innovative approach. It repurposed the common practice of blurring faces in Argentine media channels to protect the privacy of minors into a powerful tool for finding missing children and adolescents.

The case was conceived with the idea that the press reaction and organic amplification of the social cause would become the focus. Without PR, there is no campaign at all. We did the initial push with a photo to trigger the communication, but the rest was media coverage, both from news broadcasts, newspapers, and digital profiles that wanted to join the initiative.

In Argentina, paparazzi culture is prevalent, and celebrities and families often attract significant media attention. To protect children's identity and privacy the media is required to blur their faces. However, there is a percentage of minors who need to be exposed: the missing children. The idea was to take advantage of these by creating an idea that not only brought together two opposite sides but also raised awareness and made visible a portion of society that has been always invisible.

Missing Children Argentina reports they receive complaints every day of boys, girls or adolescents disappearing from their homes. More than 5 thousand children are missing per year, and that number is only of those cases that are registered. Nowadays there are more than 60 under aged unlocated. But at the end of the day, because of its little exposure, nobody knows about them. And if society is not aware they must look for them, it is increasingly difficult to find them.

Situation

In Argentina, the issue of missing children is a serious concern, with many families actively searching for their loved ones. Despite the efforts of many people, the faces of these children are still invisible to society.

Brief

We wanted to create a campaign that raised awareness about missing children in a way that resonated with the public and encouraged them to act. We needed to bring together public figures and channels to take advantage of their exposure and huge reach to make those girls, boys and adolescents’ faces visible, accessible, and recognizable for all Argentine people. With more citizens searching, finally maximizes the chances of finding the victims.

Objectives

-Increase visibility for missing children.

-Engage the public in the search efforts.

-Reunite missing children with their families.

For the first time ever, celebrities and the media came together to shine a spotlight on those children who truly need to be seen.

We chose to partner with Natalia Oreiro, an international actress and singer with over 25 years of experience. She teamed up with the press to utilize her son's exposure to bring attention to missing children.

Instead of concealing faces, we revealed them, overlaying QR codes on images of Natalia's son, directing viewers to profiles of missing children. This ingenious twist transformed everyday media consumption into an opportunity to make a difference and help a segment of society that truly needs it.

To reach all Argentinians, regardless of their age, gender, or location, we decided to join forces and work on something that is of common interest: gossip and celebrities.

We proposed Natalia Oreiro to be the spokesperson and amplifier of the message, to invite people to interact, scan the QR code, and in real-time learn about the profiles and faces of the children who are currently missing away from their homes and must appear again.

The strategy was thought up and planned so that it became an initiative that could gain awareness by itself. We aimed to convert paparazzi and influencers’ everyday content and turn it into a powerful tool to give a voice to the invisible and hope to the desperate. The more media channels and celebrities join the movement, the more amplification the idea could have in terms of reach and impact.

Natalia Oreiro as our ambassador, used her media exposure to turn paparazzi coverage into an opportunity to find missing children.

Instead of blurring her son's face to protect his identity, we placed a QR code in a photograph in La Nacion newspaper (printed and digital) to lead viewers to a landing with the profiles we needed to search. Immediately we amplified the action within UNICEF’s, Missing Children’s, and Natalia’s social media.

This unique approach captured the press’ attention and other influencers’ too, sparking a solidarity awareness omnichannel wave.

What began as an article in a magazine became a media phenomenon, a testament to the power of creativity and collaboration in addressing social challenges, bringing hope to the missing children’s families. Our initiative got its own momentum. With coverage on television news, newspapers, and other multiple media outlets. Even more, celebrities joined the good cause, multiplying the impact of our campaign.

Unseen Faces has demonstrated that creativity can transcend fame and become an instrument of change, solidarity, and social consciousness in the pursuit of the common good.

During the first 24 hours, the impact was significant, reaching 6M people. The QR code generated 70% of traffic showcasing our engagement strategy effectiveness.

Compared to previous campaigns, we led to a remarkable 200% increase in visits to the Missing Children website. We achieved an impressive $45 million earned media with 70 million impressions as influencers and users all over the country started to publish pictures on social media of their children with the QR on their faces.

As a result, over 500,000 people contacted the NGO to request more information and most importantly we found +40 children.

Instead of showing faces not allowed to be seen, we showed hundreds of children whose families were looking for.