At the risk of sounding like click bait, don’t read the rest of this post until you’ve watched the video below.
This is an incredibly well-done ad. It sucks you in with what seems like an adorable premise, and the hard swerve reminds us that we are all guilty of looking past the sadness of others in favor of happier stories. It also reframes the subject of school shootings back onto preventing it by outreach…we can’t control every instance of a troubled teenager’s access to a weapon, but we can look for ways to help someone before they turn to violence.
I only watched this video once, but it has haunted me all day, and I don’t think I will forget the lesson anytime soon!
You can read a longer analysis of this ad at Adweek.