Living with macular disease is almost like being forced to endure the crazy mood swings of Macula, the control-freak designer of haute couture eyewear, who suddenly transforms himself into a real drama queen when things don’t work the way he wants. Don’t get us wrong, there’s nothing funny about the disease, but being forced to live with macular degeneration is literally like having the annoying designer by your side all day. Only worse. Much, much worse.
A victim of the debilitating condition needs to adapt his or her sight to a foggy world, one in which the blur becomes bigger and bigger as the days pass. Although the biggest impact is put on the patient, the disease attacks the family too, though indirectly. It makes people feel helpless, pushing them to become dependent on the others. Worst of all, it takes all the simple things that life gives—like reading, driving, or watching your kids as they grow up—away from you.
To show each and every one of us what it is like to live in the mist of macular disease, Macular Society, the leading charity fighting to end sight loss caused by macular disease, reached for the help of integrated agency Don’t Panic and award-winning studio Kode and developed a campaign that introduces the sightless world of such patients. Launched to mark the Macular Week, which takes place from 25 June to 1 July, the NGO hopes to use its initiative as a way of raising awareness about the condition and the impact it has upon a patient.
Titled “Sight Matters,” the campaign features a heartbreaking video “5 Years from the Eyes of a Mum” in which one can see the disease slowly take hold of a mother. The emotional film depicts not only the effects the disease but also how it interferes negatively with the mom’s relationships to her loved ones.
It all starts with a small blur, one that seems to be insignificant at the beginning. But as the days go by, the indistinct shape that forms just before her eyes starts to grow bigger and bigger, morphing into a big black stain that clearly obstructs the woman’s vision. She still sees her son at the age of 11, but when he gets 15 there’s nothing else to observe other than darkness. Filmed from the mother’s point of view, the movie was created to make everyone catch a glimpse of what it feels like to live with such condition.
Joe Wade, MD of Don’t Panic, said in a press release: “We’re seeking to put people in the shoes of someone suffering sight lost, to not only enable people to empathize but also to make audiences take action during Macular Week.”
“People describe losing their sight as being similar to a bereavement and we have seen first-hand the impact it can have on their lives. More people are affected by macular disease than they are by Alzheimer’s, yet awareness remains low. With one in three people knowing someone with macular disease we want to continue to raise awareness so we can keep funding vital research, which will one day lead us to a cure,” concludes Cathy Yelf, Chief Executive of the Macular Society. Help us spread the word by sharing this heartbreaking campaign.
Credits:
Client: Macular Society
Agency: Don’t Panic
MD: Joe Wade
Creative: Claire Guilliar
Creative: Alice Dowdall
Client Services Director: Jane Marshall
Project Director: Nisha Mullea
Account Executive: Alex Tilley
Head of Engagement: Ellie Moore
Social media and content manager: Kirstin Piening
Media and Engagement Assistant: Regina Arizpe von Bertrab
Production Company: Kode Media
Director: Laura Scrivano
DOP: Nicola Daley
Exec Producer: Jack Goodwin
Producer: Rob Jelley
Editor: Suga Suppiah
VFX: Ikki Dhesi
Colourist: Danny Wood @ Envy
Colour Producer: Peter Burch
Audio Post-production: Matt Price