With mental health challenges rising worldwide, the U.K. campaign “The Last Photo” found a simple and heartbreaking way of raising awareness of suicide—by displaying the last photographs of 50 people who had taken their own lives.
Special Report: Agency A-List & Creativity Awards
CALM’s ‘The Last Photo’ framed the tragedy of suicide in an arresting new way
ITV initiative developed by adam&eveDDB is Creativity Awards Best Work for Good, Brand
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The campaign featured the last photographs taken of 50 people who took their own lives.
Credit:
CALM
The effort began as a teaser campaign, with the photos—with no context—presented as a kind of installation on London’s South Bank last June. All the subjects appeared to be happy and smiling, but two days later, it was revealed that they were actually suicidal—challenging the presumed assumption of what someone suffering a mental health crisis actually looks like.
ITV, the U.K. broadcaster that supported the campaign—developed by adam&eveDDB for the charity CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably)—has long been involved with mental health work. Its separate “Britain Get Talking” campaign has also been lauded for keeping people connected and helping families get closer.
The campaign featured the last photographs taken of 50 people who took their own lives.
Credit:
CALM
“It was on morning television all over the U.K.,” one Creativity Awards juror said of “The Last Photo” campaign. “It had a crazy impact without really even trying. And the simplicity of it is amazing. It’s just so powerful. It’s magnetic.”
The campaign also won Idea of the Year at this year’s Creativity Awards.
Out-of-home advertising was central to the project, featuring the last images of 50 people who took their own lives.
Credit:
CALM
