PSAs: Public Service Announcement Campaigns

Dramatic Save the Children Ad Shows Kids in War-Torn Areas as 'Tough, Resilient'

The moving short film, from Oslo-based agency POL, contrasts a terrifying war zone with a dreamy made-up universe

Save the Children is rescuing 'survivors, fighters and optimists,' per Oslo-based agency POL.Save the Children/POL
Terry Stanley
By T.L. Stanley

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Two youngsters survive a terrifying explosion in a town square, finding each other and escaping the mayhem—if only temporarily—through their own fantasy world in a heartbreaking new spot for Save the Children.

The public service announcement, shot in downtown Lebanon and surrounding areas last year, comes from director Martin de Thurah and production company Bacon via Oslo-based ad agency POL.

The two-minute film contrasts the harrowing environment of a war zone with a dreamy universe that two children conjure up as both distraction and defense mechanism.

Working from a brief “as simple as it was complex,” creatives aimed to inspire a new wave of donations for the global

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Terry Stanley

T.L. Stanley

T.L. Stanley is a senior editor at Adweek, where she specializes in consumer trends, cannabis marketing, plant-based food products, pop culture and creativity.

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