Cannes Lions Festival - Creative Quest

A piece of work that was submitted in the Social and Influencer category that stood out to me was titled, The Lost Class, created by Leo Burnett Chicago. Leo Burnett is a global advertising agency based in Chicago with over 50 offices worldwide. They have worked with many notable brands including: Fiat, McDonalds, Procter & Gamble, Bonds, and Campbells.

The Lost Class was a campaign that addressed gun violence in American schools. This campaign is very powerful because firearms are the leading cause of death for children and teens in America. 3 Million teens and children are exposed to gun violence, and there have been over 600 incidents of gun violence on school grounds since 2013. This is a large issue in America that still needs to be resolved. This campaign helps bring awareness to the problem and encourages people to help end gun violence by signing a petition.

The campaign showcases David Keene, a former NRA President, giving a speech to 3,044 empty chairs set up like high school graduation. The 3,044 empty chairs represent the students who died from gun violence that would have graduated in 2021. The empty chairs give a visual representation of how many students have died from gun violence. When we hear in the news that people have died from gun violence, we don’t see a visual of the number. This campaign did an amazing job giving people a visual representation of how many young lives were taken due to gun violence. The speech David Keene gives has a very ominous nature to it because he is telling these empty chairs they can achieve their dreams, but he is a large reason why these young adults will never be able to. David Keene has raised millions of dollars to block background checks and has helped keep assault weapons on the streets. Leo Burnett did many things right in this campaign, which is why it is so successful. They were able to get the audience emotionally involved, showcased facts and statistics about gun violence, and had a clear call to action to sign a petition.