Impact BBDO

Client: Berger Paints
Product: Paints
Title: Truck Art Childfinder
Media: Trucks, mobile outdoor, PR
Country: Pakistan
Date Of Campaign: 09/01/2019

Background: Every year, thousands of children go missing in Pakistan, a large number of whom are trafficked quickly to various parts of the country, with countless cases of abuse and mutilation. There are few mechanisms to aid in the recovery of children, including the fact that traditional media to raise awareness does not penetrate into remote regions. Roshni Helpline is an NGO that is dedicated to recovering missing children and reuniting them with their families. As a non-profit, Roshni needed a unique communication tactic which would help them with their mission. Berger Paints also has a vision to contribute to social good through a relevant use of their products. Our brief was to come up with an exceptional idea that would not only connect directly with audiences in raising awareness about missing children, but would also directly help in recovering them.

Idea: "Truck Art" is a distinctively Pakistani cultural icon: transport and goods trucks traveling across the country are customarily painted and decorated with elaborate floral patterns, animals, icons, portraits and calligraphy. These brilliantly painted works of art often include portraits of famous personalities - actors, sportspersons, military chiefs, politicians. The trucks also travel far and wide within the country. The idea was simple: in place of famous personalities, portraits of missing children were showcased on these trucks. The work was done in collaboration with conceptual artist / anthropologist Samar Minallah Khan and her team of truck artists, who painted these portraits in the style of truck art with a helpline number.In collaboration with Ms.Khan, we worked with local "truck artists" - painters who specialise in the unique skill of illustrating on trucks - to ensure authenticity. Using paints supplied by Berger Paints, the artists replicated the last photograph of the missing child and painted the backs of these trucks with the portrait, a helpline number and information about the child. Trucks were selected to ensure the routes would be covered in every direction possible, starting from the original location where the child went missing; the vehicles drove through both urban and rural areas. We started with a first wave of 20 trucks, and painted the portraits of the most recently reported cases.

Results: The campaign was highly effective: eight children have been recovered and reunited with their parents due to callers calling the number on the trucks. More than 5,300 calls were received on the helpline from 39 different cities across Pakistan, of which 725 were new reports of missing children. Besides finding children, the trucks have made hundreds of thousands Pakistanis aware of the steps to take when children go missing. This is an especially successful result in a country that has minimal infrastructure to locate missing children. Local police have now acknowledged the efficacy of, are now collaborating in implementing the campaign. The Governer of the second-largest state in the country has committed to launching the second phase in 2020. The campaign's PR has directly resulted in the NGO signing an agreement with the Sindh Police to establish a Missing Children's Center in the state.