Menactra
Teens share. Their food, their drink, their lipstick, their kisses. It’s fertile ground for great relationships, but also, shockingly, for the spread of meningococcal meningitis—a horrible bacterial infection that can kill within 24-hours of transmission. Although most young people receive their first Meningitis (MCV4) vaccine during middle school, more than 60% of older teens never go back for the second, crucial, vaccination. To alert teens and their parents to the importance of getting that second dose to prevent the virus’ spread, Publicis NY asked us to create this public service announcement.
Our challenge was not only to communicate information in a way that would connect to both teens and their parents, but to create a sense of urgency while doing that. Given the severity of the infection, it was important to shape a spot that literally stopped people in their tracks.
To do so, Erin Sarofsky directed a live-action story of “teens being teens”: laughing, sharing, sporting, and hanging out by lockers rehearsing a play. It’s set in a normal high school with traditional views and banter. To play up the idealized nature of the happy setting, we shot the footage slightly high-speed, with anamorphic lenses for a cloudy, dreamy look.
In the middle of the story, we abruptly cut to dramatic visualizations of the bacteria spreading through a young person’s body. The jarring interruption provides a harsh metaphor for what happens to a young person’s life if the virus invades.
With cinematography by Luca Del Puppo, computer graphics and design were completed in-house by our team of animators and designers.
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Live Action DirectorErin Sarofsky
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Executive ProducerSteven Anderson
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Line ProducerMarsie Wallach
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Director of Photography
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Post ProducerJenny Napier
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EditorSarah Harvey
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Motion DesignersDan Tiffany
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Josh Smiertka
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Tnaya Witmer
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Jens Mebes
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Agency
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ProducerMary Morgan
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Creative Director:Ed Cousineau
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WriterAmy Rakowski
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Art DirectorEric Catbagan
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Client