2016 Winners & Shortlists

Creative Execution

We located abandoned cars across key locations in Dubai and fixed them with motion sensor devices. These devices produced loud sounds of pets crying when people walked within a 3-meter radius of the vehicle. Then, when they investigated we hit them with our message using stickers on the cars with real abandoned pets. We also installed hidden cameras around the selected vehicles to capture the reactions of people experiencing this activation, to spread the message online and make all realize about the severity of the problem.

In just one week, we got free media attention from National news & radio channels. The online film got more than 500.000 views and over 6.000 shares, driving 50.000 new visitors to the 38smiles website and Facebook page. (And still growing). And most importantly, we put this problem in people’s faces giving the abandoned pets a second chance.

Objectives: 38smiles – a non-profit animal rescue group in Dubai, needed to raise awareness of the increasing number of abandoned pets (over 3,000 every year). Insight: Over 3000 pets are abandoned in Dubai every year - which is the same number as abandoned cars left across the city. Idea: We created the illusion that these abandoned pets were trapped in the abandoned cars to get people’s attention and make them realize how real the problem is. Strategy: To use this high number of abandoned cars to raise awareness of the abandoned pets problem.