Student agency crafts campaign for American Cancer Society
Aside from cost and insurance, transportation is one of the biggest obstacles cancer patients can face in receiving treatment. A new pro bono campaign created by University of Southern California undergrads for the American Cancer Society aims to help solve that problem by recruiting volunteers for the Road to Recovery ridesharing service.
“Currently only about 25% of the patients who request rides in the Los Angeles area are able to receive one, and this is due to a lack of volunteers for the program,” said Emily Heuring, account director of the campaign at Trojan Marketing Group, USC’s full-service, student-run agency.
The PSA begins with two parallel panes showing almost identical scenes of familiar morning rituals in two households—breakfast, kids packing up their homework and finally the trip to school. One mom drives to school, the other walks and, in a delayed reveal, it becomes apparent that one mom is ill. After the kids wave goodbye, the two panels align in the same scene as the woman in the car pulls over for the other mom and introduces herself. As the two drive off, the screen reads “Give a ride, save a life.”
The video is running online and being shared on social media by regional cancer society affiliates, with plans to place posters in hospitals. Eventually it will run nationally and be available on YouTube.
“Through our market research we found that many individuals don’t volunteer because they don’t think they’re ‘good enough,’ ” Heuring said. The goal is to make both storylines relatable to the viewer, so future volunteers can ask themselves, “Why not me?”