Renowned Brazilian Cancer Treatment, The Hospital do Câncer de Barretos, is a place that offers treatment for children who suffer from cancer. The hospital decided to rebrand itself after the head of the institution found out that the best treatment for fighting the illness is nothing else than love. So, starting May 2018, the medical center’s name has changed to “Hospital do Amor”, or “Hospital of Love,” therefore promoting love as the best medicine against cancer.

To draw public’s attention to the rebranding process, the health institution joined forces with Brazilian advertising agency WMcCann, which happily joined the team with a three-minute-long animated video, titled “The Fall.” The fully-animated spot proves just how much good love can do to a child affected by this deadly illness. The 3D animation puts the spotlight on devastating challenges young patients have to go through after being diagnosed with cancer and at the beginning the intrusive treatment. The film focuses not only on the children, but also on the family, friends, and hospital professionals who are directly involved in the youngster’s treatment process.

During this week’s #ThrowBrandThursday we follow the heartbreaking story of a young girl, who happens to be diagnosed with cancer. The short Pixar-like tale begins on a happy note, with the kid playing fetch with her dog. But rather too soon, she faints and ends up in a medical center where the doctors inform her parents about her serious condition.

Feeling like in a dream, the girl sees herself fighting with the condition. At first, all her loved ones disappear one by one. She feels trapped in an hourglass where time doesn’t stay still. But just when you’ve been expecting to see the girl’s condition get worse, she manages to recover thanks to her family and friends who, with their love, succeed to put her back up on her feet again.

Designed with the help of Zombie Studio and Loud, the film took 10 months to produce. It was the first piece of a major communication strategy which englobed social media and PR activation. The marketing strategy was visible to the public for the whole year of 2018.

“The creative solution came up almost naturally, as the new hospital name is nothing but a fundamental component to treat the disease. It also shows a more modern and humane approach for the treatment,” said André Marques, WMcCann Creative Vice-President. The creative team behind the effort included creative directors Eiji Kozaka and Marcelo Conde, copywriter Gustavo Cavinato, and art directors Francisco Oliveira and Ian Hartz.

“Since the beginning we were very engaged and moved by the theme, especially considering some of the crew members have personally experienced the hardship of having a loved one facing cancer,” explained Paulo Garcia, Zombie Studio partner and movie director.

The audio background comes from the hand of Felipe Vassão and Rafa Kabelo of Loud Studio, and was performed by the North American singer Rebecca Peters. It was designed specifically for this project. “We literally loved the challenge of help telling this story through a song and both the creatives and the movie directors gave us total freedom to create, something very rare nowadays,” added Felipe Vassão, conductor at Loud studios.

Now, take a seat and equip yourself with some tissues, because the short film will most likely break your heart into small pieces. At the same time, it will put them back where they belong, thanks to its happy ending that will also bring a smile on your face. All thanks to love…

Credits:

Agency: WMcCann

Client: Hospital de Amor

Campaign title: The Fall

CCO: Hugo Rodrigues and André Marques

Creative directors: Eiji Kozaka and Marcelo Conde

Creatives: Gustavo Cavinato, Francisco Oliveira, Eiji Kozaka, Marcelo Conde and Ian Hartz

Account service: Rafaela Reis, Catarina Trajano, Luís Figueira e Mariana Rissi

Projetos: Jaqueline Travaglin, Denise Kotsubo

Media: Horácio Rosário, Daniel Neves, Vitória Lobo, Lucas Gonçalves

RTVC: Marcelo Hack, Julia Seligmann, Viviane Guedes

Production house: Zombie Studio

Film Director: Paulo Garcia

Client service: Victoria Scaff e Leticia Baptista

Sound production house: Loud

Sound production: Loud

Client approval: Henrique Duarte Prata, Henrique Moraes Prata, Karina Carreira, Patrícia Moura