Who: The Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation (The Children’s), with Cossette for strategy and creative; 4Zero1 for production (directed by Benjamin Nicolas); with Post430 for post-production, Cult Nation for audio, and media by Cossette Media.
What: “Two Little Brats for Life,” a sequel to the “Long Live Little Brats” fundraising campaign from 2020.
When & Where: The campaign is in market now, with a nearly three-minute online video, and a 30-second cutdown running on both TV and OLV.
Why: It’s part of an ongoing effort to raise $200 million for innovation in research and pediatric healthcare by 2026, one of the most ambitious fundraising goals in the healthcare sector.
The insight behind the platform is that healthy kids can be handful sometimes, and when they’re not getting into trouble, that can be a bad sign. “Healthy kids are curious and, let’s be honest, they can sometimes be a bit bratty,” said Renée Vézina, president of the Foundation, in a release announcing the new campaign.
“At The Children’s, we want to give kids the chance to be healthy enough to be mischievous again—and that’s why we continue to occupy this little brats space and celebrate them with the same enthusiasm as in previous years.”
How: The campaign is anchored by a nearly three-minute short film that brings the insight to life, in much the same way as the 2020 launch campaign. However, this time the story is about two best friends, Max and Lou, who love to pull pranks on family and friends.
For the first 40 seconds, we see some of the pranks play out, with Max updating Lou on their missions via walkie talkie. But the tone changes as it’s revealed that Lou is in hospital, and seemingly getting sicker.
As he loses energy, Lou is less enthusiastic about his pal’s stunts. Max keeps going hoping to boost his friend’s spirits, but gets more and more worried as he hears from Lou less and less. It starts to feel like the worst has happened, but the film has a happy ending with Lou happily updating a relieved Max about a prank he pulled on one of the nurses.
As was the case with the first film, Cossette worked with director Benjamin Nicolas of 4ZERO1 to create the film, which, it said, “feels more like a movie than a traditional ad.”
“This is a touching friendship story signed by Benjamin Nicolas’s distinct directorial style, which has become part of the DNA of The Children’s campaigns,” said Mélanie Delisle, creative director at Cossette. “He surrounded himself with an outstanding team to achieve top quality work, equally in terms of cinematography, acting and editing.”
And we quote: “Once again, this year’s ad spotlights the importance of the work at The Children’s,” said Delisle. “It helps us understand how donations to the foundation can directly (and indirectly) impact the lives of patients and their loved ones.”
