Lead Agency: Leo Burnett Chicago
It is no secret that the topic of gun violence is controversial, but no one can deny that the amount of lives that have been taken is devastating.
Change the Ref is a nonprofit organization that was created by the parents of students killed in 2018’s Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. They wanted to create a message that differentiates itself from past gun violence campaigns, and in early June 2021, they did exactly that.
David Keene, board member and former president of the National Rifle Association, and John Lott, a gun-rights advocate and author, were invited to what they thought was a high school graduation they would be speaking at. But in reality, they would end up speaking to 3,044 empty seats.
Though it's tough to even think about, these empty seats represent each and every student that would have been graduating in 2021 if their lives were not taken by gun violence.
Both Keene and Lott delivered speeches to the empty chairs, believing that it was a rehearsal.
Though it is controversial that Keene and Lott were unaware of what they agreed to, the outcome of the project proved to be successful. The stunt went viral, garnering global media attention and blowing up across social media platforms.
The mass amount of empty chairs really stood out to anyone who saw it. When I first saw it on social media, I thought of the victims who were taken too early, but also their families and friends. It is terrifying to think that those are the lives lost only from one graduating class.
In less than a month after the project was published, 27,000 people signed the online petition against gun violence located on Change the Ref’s website.
Though the topic is somber, I am glad Change the Ref and Leo Burnett Chicago were able to find a way to emphasize the number of lives lost and hopefully prevent more from being lost in the future.
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