Leo Burnett builds 'wall of darkness' to motivate donors for blindness prevention

As preventable blindness is not an urgent, attention-grabbing or life-and-death issue in the eyes of Hong Kongers, the cause has attracted a very low percentage of total donations from the local population.

Leo Burnett was given a brief three months ago to provide greater motivation to donate by showing the public the impact their contributions could make.

"Like the Germans who lived under the shadow of the Berlin Wall, 39 million blind people are held hostage by a world of darkness," Margaret Chan, management supervisor of Leo Burnett Hong Kong, told Campaign Asia-Pacific. "To galvanise our targets, we wanted to create a movement to break down a symbol of oppression." 

Visitors to www.thedarkwall.com, which went live on 20 April, see a wall covered in graffiti depicting blindness-related stories of pain and sorrow from the poorest regions of the world. For example, one story tells how a 10-year-old boy from Angola had his eyes severely damaged by a landmine explosion. Website visitors can pick up a virtual hammer and knock down a part of the wall.

Visitors who go on to make a donation to Orbis will receive a recreated version of the piece of the wall they knocked down via the mail. "The actual piece received is concrete proof of an act that took place in cyberspace, but made a tangible impact in the real world," Chan added.

The 'acts' can also be shared on Facebook and Sina Weibo. The website is supported by outdoor posters at MTR stations in Hong Kong. Local fashion house I.T. also took up the cause with a specially designed shirt.

The funds raised will now give more than three thousand blind people the gift of sight, which is "priceless," commented Venus Yeung, director of communications at Orbis.

The non-profit humanitarian organisation funded the production and media buying costs for this campaign, but all creative work was done on a pro bono basis by Leo Burnett.

Credits

Project: The Dark Wall
Client: Orbis
Creative agency: Leo Burnett Hong Kong
Executive Creative Director: Connie Lo
Deputy Executive Creative Director: Brian Ma
Creative Directors: Alfred Wong, Wen Louie
Art Directors: Brian Ma, Kenny Ip, Leo Yeung
Copywriters: Alfred Wong, Wen Louie, Arnold Au

Account Service Directors: Corinne Cheng, Hanford Sheng
Producer: Kelvin Ngai
Digital Consultant: Kennedy Pang
Web Developer: Kit Man
Illustrator: Prodip Leung
Photographer: Kaon Chan
Digital Imaging: Kim Ho
Exposure: Online, outdoor, event