Since 1965, the Child Poverty Action Group has fought for radical improvement in the standard of living of families in poverty. The charity was instrumental in the creation of the Child Poverty Act of 2010, which lifted 1.1 million children out of poverty and pioneered the UK welfare rights movement. Despite this, in the UK today, 4.2 million children live in poverty – that’s 29% of all children in the country.

The charity needed to bring child poverty back to the top of the agenda. However, the cost-of-living crisis and poverty aren’t the only topics dominating the headlines amid war, climate crisis, culture wars and political unrest. Child poverty is also a complex, divisive issue.

Rather than tackle the spectrum of child poverty at once, Creature looked initially to grab people’s attention, something that would engage and enrage people universally. In its research, one story stood out, about a boy at a school in London who didn’t qualify for free school meals and who pretended to eat out of an empty lunchbox so his friends wouldn’t find out his family didn’t have any food at home. What made this story even more tragic was the way a child’s imagination was being used to combat a brutal reality.

Creature took this insight and created a multi-channel campaign across TV, print, OOH, digital and social that brought the shocking realities of child poverty to life. The principal element of the campaign was a 60-second film that takes us on a fantastical journey through a school lunch hall.

However, instead of lunchboxes, we see mountains of fruit, endless popcorn, lobsters and doughnuts appear like magic, all set to a re-recording of the iconic song, Food, Glorious Food, from Oliver! But, as our hero sits down to join the feast, the scene changes and we see him alone, pretending to eat. The campaign spread both nationally and around the world and drove a 153% increase in donations to Child Poverty Action Group compared with the same period the previous year.

Credits:
Client: Child Poverty Action Group
Chief Executive Officer: Alison Garnham
Director of Policy, Rights and Advocacy: Sara Ogilvie
Interim Director of Policy, Rights and Advocacy: Katie Taylor
Director of Business: Naomi Jessop
Campaign Lead: Bea Pitel
Communications and Campaigns Manager: Lizzie Flew
Agency: Creature London
Chief Creative Officers: Ben Middleton, Stu Outhwaite-Noel
Senior Creative: Meg Egan
Head of Design: Tim Green
Senior Designer: Flo Levane
Chief Strategy Officer: Andrew Gibson
Strategy Director: Flora Joll
Chief Client Officer: Hanisha Kotecha
Business Director: Emma French
Account Manager: Evie Hutt
Agency Head of Integrated Production: Kristie Girvan
Integrated Producer: Niko Browne
Production Company: Smuggler
Director: Adam Berg
Producer: Ben Croker
Production Manager: Christabelle Stone
1st AD: Tony Fernandez
Production Assistant: Kamran Marzban
DOP: Tim Maurice-Jones
Gaffer: Jakub Paczos
Key Grip: Tom North
Production Designer: Chris Oddy
SFX: Machine Shop
Food Stylist: Elaine Ngan
Wardrobe Stylist: Selina Wong
Hair & Makeup: Michele Baylis
Casting Director: Hannah Simons
Editing: Trim
Editing: Paul Hardcastle
VFX: Blacksmith NYC
Sound Recordist: George Watts
Lighting: Panalux
Camera: Arri
Locations: Scout Production
Sound Design: Factory UK
Head of Production/Executive Producer:
Deborah Whitfield
Junior Audio Producer: Ethan Day
Sound Engineer: Josh Campbell
Online: Creative Outpost
Music Licensing: Jacob Wheeler, Major Tom
Re-Record: David Bass, Wake The Town
Performers: CW Jones & Aaron Williams
Producer: Aaron Williams
Media: TotalMedia