Missing children are being located through the Truck Art Child Finder campaign which has done so much good already.
Like any other country, Pakistan deals with its fair share of missing child cases. And because of general negligence or lack of resources, the search for these children is usually short-lived and has a small reach.
The ‘Truck Art ChildFinder’ campaign, launched in Pakistan as a CSR initiative by Berger Paints, is now giving parents renewed hope about being reunited with their missing children – where there was very little before.
A renowned documentary filmmaker and anthropologist, Samar Minallah’s pioneering social initiative in using Truck Art for social change resonated with the creatives at ad agency BBDO and they collaborated with her and her team of talented truck artist, in using this indigenous medium for a ground-breaking cause — to find missing children. “Truck Art Childfinder” has now stormed the world stage by picking up four Cannes Lions at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity.
A campaign I did in collaboration with BBDO Pakistan has bagged 4 Cannes Lions at the 2019 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. A special thanks to the super talented truck artists and all those involved in making it happen #Cannes2019 #Honor pic.twitter.com/oDjROfWPlP
— Samar MinAllah Khan (@SamarMinallahKh) July 5, 2019
“Beyond the unique aesthetic, it was the idea of a billboard on wheels that blends so seamlessly into any local setting. It is a unique art tool that is able to reach out to the remotest regions of Pakistan, thus spreading its outreach to places where mainstream media or advertisements cannot reach.”
And honestly, something as iconic as Pakistani Truck Art being used to help find missing children is such a good idea.
A lot of abducted children are taken out of their own cities and displaced which makes it even harder for them to be tracked and found.
Like Samar said, not all parts of Pakistan have access to the media or the internet, especially in far-off areas. But what these areas do have is a steady flow of trucks passing through. And if those trucks have portraits and information about missing children on them, that means it gains the eyes of those who might actually be able to help find those children.
And that is exactly what has happened. Because of these trucks, there have so far been 3,000 calls and 500 of those calls proved to be solid leads regarding the whereabouts of these children. And so far, 7 children have been recovered. That is huge.
The video made by Sarah Tareen for the campaign was very emotional since it showed some reunions of the abducted children with their families as well. In a country where the resources to recover abducted children are scarce, using an already built network of trucks to publicize missing children to help find them is revolutionary.
Samar Minallah Khan, BBDO and Berger Paints using their resources to do something this out of the box is amazing. And Pakistanis are not the only ones who appreciated this initiative. The campaign got 4 awards at the Cannes Lions Awards in 2019 for design and PR among others, which is a huge deal and a testament to the fact that this was a brilliant idea since this year the festival saw over 30,000 entries.
Irfan Said, GM Retail Sales, and Marketing, Berger Paints, said, “Being a CSR imitative of Berger Paints, Truck Art Childfinder has perhaps delivered the most impactful result of all, in that it has helped to reunite 7 missing children with their families so far. Because of the success of this campaign, we will continue to proactively sustain this initiative and as a proof of our commitment we are in the process of launching the second phase of the campaign on a larger scale.”
While it seems like a simple idea, it could not have been easy to execute. But the fact that a company was willing to do so is big and a good lesson for other corporations moving forward.
They plan on painting at least 25 more trucks in the Karachi and Sindh area. And we wish them nothing but luck!
Here’s the video:
#TruckArtChildfinder, a campaign to find missing children using Truck art, was made in collaboration with conceptual artist and anthropologist Samar Minallah Khan, a pioneer in using #TruckArt for social change. Coordinated by Roshni Helpline – 1138, and filmed by Sarah Tareen Productions, the campaign has generated more than 3,000 calls, spread awareness of reporting missing persons, and has contributed to finding seven lost children. Thank you to all the teams that worked on this project. #BergerPaints
Gepostet von Berger Paints Pakistan am Donnerstag, 11. Juli 2019
What do you think of this innovative campaign? Let us know in the comments below.
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Cover Image Source: @samarminallahkh via Twitter.com/brandinginasia.com