Creative studio and production company Big Block Live debuted a comical video with a powerful message for non-profit organization, Save The Children. Written and directed by Big Block Live’s creative director duo, Josh Ruben and Vincent Peone, the video serves an alternative approach to gaining visibility and awareness for Save The Children’s Mothers’ Day campaign to provide financial support for mothers and children in conflict-ridden countries around the world.
The spot opens with what appears to be a stylish behind-the-scenes video of a model shoot for a “very sexy” brand — or so the models are told. As instructed, each of the models delivered various phrases with a sexy tone and sultry expression, until the cue cards took a surprising turn and the sex appeal became awkward. Ruben and Peone captured the models’ authentic reactions as they attempted to glamorize shocking statistics about children in war-torn countries, ultimately coming to the conclusion that this is not an issue that can be positioned as sexy, but that demands people to take action.
“We used cameras and art that would feel like what you’d see on a high-end fragrance commercial or something similar in order to create a separation from the ‘prank’ format,” said Peone. “We worked with Save the Children very closely to maintain that. We think stylistically this helped to drive the message home, because it’s disarmingly realistic. You watch this thinking it’s another fashion video, and boom — there’s this unexpected twist with a powerful message.”
“We knew we had to capture real, organic reactions, and we were highly sensitive about not making the models feel duped. We maintained that this was for a vaguely ‘sexy’ brand up until the moment each model laid eyes on the first statistic cue card,” added Ruben. “This made the project a bit of a challenge, but we ended up with some true visceral reactions and the result is something that truly speaks to the significance of this cause.”
Save The Children approached Big Block Live about creating the video campaign after seeing Ruben and Peone’s SXSW 2013 presentation on their tactics for creating viral comical content. Both the organization and directors agreed this video needed to be bold and unexpected. Hailing from CollegeHumor and following a string of successful viral prank videos for the recent Vitamin Water and Big Block Live-produced Bowlmor Lanes campaigns, Ruben and Peone were the perfect duo to write and direct the video, effectively capturing Save The Children’s unconventional but potent message for this campaign.
