Personal Effects Pack - Tullo Marshall Warren, London

Background

Suicide is the second biggest killer of men aged 15-34 in the UK, with an average of three young men a day committing suicide.

C.A.L.M. – the Campaign Against Living Miserably – is a registered charity and support network which offers professional advice and support through a website and phone line to those in need.

With the recession biting, and unemployment and job insecurity on the rise, anxiety and depression are also increasing – especially in men. The fear is that this will lead to a rise in male suicide.

Idea

With its audience made up of busy high-fliers, C.A.L.M. set out to cut through the clutter by sending a simulation of the ‘personal effects’ that a suicide victim might leave in their locker or desk.

This was the kind of heart breaking package that families receive and which friends or colleagues often have to put together in the event of a suicide.

It began with an intriguing, hand-addressed jiffy bag marked ‘Strictly Confidential – Personal Effects’.

Inside were the personal effects of a potential suicide in a plastic bag. These were tailored to each sector but might include keys, coins, a photo ID card, a treasured photo of the victim with wife and baby daughter, and so on. All items were carefully ‘distressed’ to give a feeling of authenticity.

Having captured attention, the issues were explained in a measured, factual way. A summary sheet was enclosed to help stimulate discussion at the next board meeting plus a cheque requisition form and freepost addressed envelope enabling them to return their cheque quickly and easily.

Results

Not yet known

Our Thoughts

I do like work that is based on a real truth. Something, which when you hear it gets you nodding because it is an irrefutable. Here I am assuming that the pack contains the effects of someone known to the recipient (without them really being dead, of course). If this is the case, and they got the recipient actually contemplating how tough it would be to undertake the task of collating their dear colleague’s stuff, then I imagine this piece would be very powerful. I’m just not 100% sure how they would do this or whether I would care nearly as much as if it was some fictitious person I have no emotional connection with.