Sandy Hook Promise wins Emmy for PSA
NEWTOWN — The 66-second public service announcement Sandy Hook Promise released last year juxtaposing a back-toschool commercial with a school shooting won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Commercial of 2019.
The “Back-to-School Essentials” video was part of a series of PSAs by Sandy Hook Promise and BBDO New York, depicting everyday American life with gun violence hiding in plain sight. The award was announced over the weekend.
“The goal of these productions is to emphasize that school shootings are preventable when you ‘know the signs,’ ” according to a statement from Sandy Hook Promise.
For the first 40 seconds, kids play along with the satirical theme of being grateful for the new classroom supplies that are helping them survive a mass shooting.
New headphones are great for studying during gunfire, one student says as mayhem breaks out in the library.
Another student sprints down the hallway to flee gunfire and a falling classmate, grateful because, “These sneakers are just what I need to start the new year.”
But after a girl demonstrates that her sock makes a great tourniquet on a badly bleeding friend, the kids can play along no more.
The final scene shows a sobbing girl bravely trying to be grateful for the new cell phone that allows her to text her mother for the last time, as the shooter’s footsteps approach.
“Back-to-School Essentials” was designed to shock people who have grown apathetic to mass shootings into action, according to Sandy Hook Promise cofounder Mark Barden, whose son, Daniel, was a first-grader killed in the 2012 massacre of 26 students and educators at Sandy Hook School.
“The idea originated from the horrible reality that people are selling bulletproof backpacks as school supplies, which is just insane, so we turned that message on its head,” Barden said last year.
Sandy Hook Promise co-founder Nicole Hockley — whose son, Dylan, was killed in the 2012 massacre — said the Newtown-based organization is “honored and humbled” that the Television Academy of Arts and Science recognized “Backto-School Essentials” as Outstanding Commercial of 2019.
“As a nonprofit organization, our mission is to end school shootings and prevent violence that harms children. The only way that can happen is if parents understand the real fears our kids have, and take action, including learning the warning signs of potential violence and speaking up,” Hockley said in a prepared statement.
“Back-to-School Essentials” was selected over ads by Apple, Amazon and P&G in the Outstanding Commercial category. The winner was announced via live stream before the Sunday night telecast of the 72nd Annual Emmy Awards.