The European Parliament’s new ad campaign is surprisingly moving

Featuring real-life labours and births, the European Parliament’s Choose Your Future film plays on our hopes and fears to encourage us to vote

“We witness the nervous last hours of pregnancies, going into labour, and finally the actual birth of these children that will inherit our decisions in the upcoming elections,” says director Frédéric Planchon, who worked on the campaign alongside Copenhagen agency & Co.

It’s not what you might expect from a political advert, but it manipulates the viewer’s emotions very cleverly. If the footage of mothers and fathers cradling their newborn babies doesn’t get you, then maybe the voiceover of a young girl, asking viewers to “choose the Europe you want me to grow up in”, will.

The subject matter is perhaps particularly pertinent for people in the UK, and doubtless the European Parliament had Brexit in mind when creating the campaign. According to them, a recent survey revealed that 80% of people believe that what unites Europeans is more important than what separates them. It also showed that many have worries or doubt regarding the future of Europe.

“The biggest act of hope and will to believe in a better future is putting a child into this world,” says Johan Køhler, Partner and Copywriter at & Co. “And this is not a political campaign. It’s not about who and what to vote for. It’s about why we vote and, in my mind, we vote because we have to deal with the challenges we face globally, unless we want to leave the coming generations worse off.”

The three-minute Choose Your Future film will appear online and on social media across all 28 Member States – including the UK, where for Remainers it will likely be a particularly bittersweet watch – followed by TV, cinema and print.

Credits:
Director: Frédéric Planchon
Creative agency: & Co / NoA
Production company: New Land/Academy Films