The Social Distance Squad
Claire’s Place Foundation (L.A.), Piper’s Angels (Jupiter, FL), the Bonnell Foundation (Detroit), Attain Health (Red Lodge, MT) and the Boomer Esiason Foundation (New York).
Issue 56 | September 2020
Agency
AREA 23, an FCB Health Network company
Creative Team
Chief Creative Officer Tim Hawkey Associate Creative Directors Jay Gertelman, Meghan Patenaude SVP Creative Directors Logan Allanson, Andy Gerchak, Pamela Savage VP CD Design Eduardo Tavares Art Supervisor Roberta Totaro Copy Supervisor Angela Williams ACD Art and Design Arthur Daraujo Group Art Supervisor Emily Carman Senior Art Director Katelyn Baumann Art Director Sarah McKinnon Junior Art Directors Carolina Sanchez, Omar Inca, Sabrina Koenig Junior Copywriters Patrick Egan, Sarah Vallecillo, Ethan Victor
Production Team
SVP Director Integrated Production Jennifer Ma VP Director Integrated Production Miona Mui Senior Producers Paddy Giordano, Cassie Diehm, Keith Haitkin VP Director Technology and Digital Production Bill Hanff VP ACD Ronnie Caltabiano VP Senior Producer Anna Lopez SVP Group Engagement KC Dickerson Production company Studio Rx
Other Credits
Account Supervisor Lydia Sine
Date
July 2020
Background
COVID-19 and social distancing measures have hit teens hard. They have been cut off from their social circles during their formative years, missed out on key events and have been left searching for guidance on how to be social while apart.
Idea
The Social Distance Squad is a platform in which young people with cystic fibrosis have become thought leaders and influencers.
“We’ve been doing social distancing forever.
Six feet apart, nothing new. Can’t go out, can’t tell what day it is, we wrote the book.” On the website, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok 15 young people with CF share tips and stories about staying well and happy.
They’ve been doing it since birth. They offer personalised advice and many have appeared in virtual classrooms across the country, leading Q&A sessions to help kids cope with lockdown.
Results
The reaction has been immediate. Kids in virtual classes have been motivated by the Squad, seeing opportunities instead of frustrations.
Our Thoughts
While most other charities are sombre in lockdown, here’s a story that is SO INSPIRING. The default attitude to people who are disabled or afflicted by illness is to feel sorry for them. Channel 4 challenged that by showing us how disabled athletes are superhuman, and here’s The Social Distance Squad showing us that CF has given them the advantages of insight and compassion.
What a startling way to raise awareness of what CF actually is, and of the charities that deal with it. Wonderful work.