The War At Home
Problem
Each day in America, 22 veterans take their own life. In fact, suicide, not war, is now the leading cause of death in the military. And while awareness is now growing, in 2014, it was the skeleton in America’s closet.
Insight
We realized that the military’s deadliest battlefields weren’t in Iraq or Afghanistan, but here at home: the living rooms, bedrooms and garages where our veterans are dying.
Idea
For more than 20 years, David Guttenfelder (8-time WPP winner and Time Magazine’s Photographer of the Year) has been on the front lines with the US military, taking some of the most famous photographs of our military conflicts overseas. We flew him back and went on a roadtrip across America to document an even deadlier war—the War at Home.
Hear David talk to National Geographic about the experience:
We turned David's photographs into print ads. The ads, and stories, were picked up by major media outlets around the country.
The project took us 5,500 miles across America as we met with families who lost loved ones in the War at Home.
We documented the journey and turned it into a digital experience at Mission22.com.
We made billboards that ran in the hometowns of the vets featured in the artwork.
Civilians were asked to CLAIM A 22 and share it using social media. Each 22 helps raise awareness
while also letting our vets know they have an army behind them.
Results
· The campaign generated millions of media impressions, receiving attention from Time, National Geographic, The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, PRI, the BBC and others
· It was a major force for increasing awareness of veteran suicide in America, a statistic that now dominates the news
· The work was awarded a Cannes Lion from the International Festival for Creativity in France, advertising most celebrated advertising award show
· It also was awarded a pencil from D&AD, advertising’s most prestigious award show
· Most importantly, we hope it has started a hopeful dialog between civilians and veterans
