David Beckham 'speaks' nine languages in this PSA designed to fight malaria

Malaria No More campaign via R/GA encourages people to sign a 'voice petition'

Published On
Apr 09, 2019

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David Beckham appears to speak nine languages in a new PSA from Malaria No More, a U.K. charity encouraging people to help the fight against malaria in a "voice petition."

The campaign, via R/GA London, uses AI video synthesis technology from London tech company Synthesia to simulate Beckham speaking the voices of men and women from around the world, including malaria survivors and doctors fighting the disease.

The film then drives viewers to sign a "voice petition" by recording their own voice saying "Malaria Must Die." Each voice collected via the petition will contribute to a piece of audio art known as a sound sculpture, which will be delivered to world leaders ahead of critical funding decisions for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in October. Dentsu Aegis is responsible for media for the campaign. 

RSA Amsterdam's Juriaan Booij directed the spot; for more on how the technology that gave Beckham varied voices works, see the behind-the-scenes film, below. In it, Synthesia CEO and Co-founder Victor Riparbelli says, "What we are doing I think helps spreads this message in a more effectful way than without using technology like ours," though we're not quite how using A.I. tech impacts the message any more than a traditional sound dub would. 

It's Beckham's second appearance in a campaign for Malaria No More: last year, he appeared in a PSA in which he was attacked by mosquitoes. The soccer player is is a founding member of Malaria No More UK Leadership Council.