A triptych of three beautiful film vignettes of Chinese family life have been created by Saatchi & Saatchi China for CCTV, the state-owned TV station in China. Titled ‘The Aged Care’, the public service campaign touches the heart strings, and appeals to people to spend time with their relatives.

Beautifully shot with a message that everyone can relate to, the campaign generated more than 1 million online views on the first day of airing, and set social media abuzz with comments on social networks exceeding 2 million in 2 weeks. The films have reached more than 500 million people, and successfully managed to raise awareness of the importance of connecting with our relatives and loved ones in these increasingly selfish and alienating times.

Mother’s Wait 

This was the first time CCTV appointed 4As to develop a public service TV campaign, which was launched in the peak season of the year, during Chinese New Year. The TVC launched on January 19th and was broadcast in a high frequency during the Chinese New Year. The campaign will run for the whole year, during which time more than 20 channels of CCTV will broadcast the TVC at a different time of day, depending on their playlist.

Carol Lam, Chief Creative Office and Managing Partner of Saatchi & Saatchi South China, commented: “It never gets easy to sell in and produce creatively brilliant work in China. It’s even more challenging to produce good work that is truly influential across the whole nation given the complexity, diversity and scale of the country. Something loved by the real Chinese people out there regardless of their place of origin, background or social class. We are thrilled to have this opportunity to make this happen for CCTV and touch the widest possible audience in China. This is indeed a testament of the power of creativity rooted in love and integrity. Being a better man is far more important than being a better ad man.” 

Fan NG, Executive Creative Director of Saatchi & Saatchi Shanghai, said: “ We are proud of our work, we are more proud of being here with CCTV to fill the world with Loveworks.”

The 3 films are titled ‘Mum’s Wait’, ‘Father’s Lie’ and ‘Take Away’, and tell respectively the stories of; a young mother and her son transforming through the ages, with the continuous thread of eternal and unconditional love linking each era; an old man lying to his daughter to conceal the real difficulties he is experiencing in his old age; and a Father suffering from Alzheimer’s who forgets basic everyday things, but remembers the eating habits of his son. The film ‘Father’s Lie’ has had such an impact, it has even been made into a sand animation online.

Take Away

Special thanks to Lee Sharrock Global Creative PR