BBDO New York ruins a blossoming high school romance in shocking gun violence PSA
BBDO New York partnered with Sandy Hook Promise to create a PSA featuring Evan, a teen who experiences a school shooting. The one-minute-and-40-second story starts off as a potential love story with Evan scribbling notes on a desk to a secret admirer.
BBDO New York creates gun violence PSA
As he finally meets the girl who wrote him during the school year to have a school shooter burst through the gym.
The video cuts to text, which says, “While you were watching Evan, another student was showing signs of planning a shooting.”
The next line reads, “But no one noticed."
The ad, created by relatives that lost people in the Sandy Hook Elementary School, looks to make a point: Gun violence can be stopped if you know the signs to look for. As a part of their “Know The Signs” campaign, the group is looking to raise awareness around the warning signs before gun violence.
“When you don’t know what to look for or can’t recognize what you are seeing, it can be easy to miss warning signs or dismiss them as unimportant. That can lead to tragic consequences, including someone hurting themselves or others”, said Nicole Hockley in statement, co-founder and managing director of Sandy Hook Promise, who lost her first-grade son, Dylan, in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.
“It is important for us to show youth and adults that they are not helpless in protecting their community from gun violence – these acts are preventable when you know the signs. Everyone has the power to intervene and get help. These actions can save lives.”
The spot, which was released on Friday, has over 4.2m views on YouTube.
“Through ‘Evan,' we sought to show how different your perspective can be when you’re aware of the signs,” said Greg Hahn, chief creative officer of BBDO New York, in a statement. "We’ve been fortunate to work with the inspiring people at Sandy Hook Promise to help parents, students, and teachers better identify these signs.”