Choose A Different Ending
Issue 16 | September 2010
Agency
Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO London UK
Creative Team
Executive Creative Director: Paul Brazier; Copywriter: Martin Loraine; Art Director: Steve Jones;
Production Team
Production Company: Mad Cow Films London; Director: Simon Ellis; Production Company Producer: Jonas Blanchard
Other Credits
Account Handlers: Richard Arscott, Claire Best. Adam Kennedy; Account Planning: Tom White, Stephanie Phillips
Date
2010
Background
Young people in London sometimes carry knives in the belief this gives them protection. The Metropolitan Police wanted them to realize the reverse is true.
Idea
21 films were shot and put up on Youtube. Social media, search media, in-game posters, blogs and radio and TV steered the target audience towards these. Each put the viewer in the position of a teenage boy on a London estate. Each film ended with an invitation to choose what happens next. Once a viewer has concluded the path they have chosen, they’re invited to ‘Choose a Different Ending.’ An ending both for the film, and for their life.
Results
4.6 out of 5 average user rating. 2.1% click-through rate on viral video trailers, well above 0.2% industry benchmark for rich media banners.
Net number of views logged would have required a TV budget 600% the size of the actual spend.
Peer-to-peer debate about the videos and knife crime amounted to 80 comments a day with a total of over 3,000 posted.
Total video views to date: 2,652,012.
Highest total recall of any Metropolitan Police campaign ever and a 78% recall among its target audience.
