The brief was to create a campaign which would maximize national engagement in MSF Norway’s fundraising event on October 22nd 2006. The aim of the fundraiser was to focus on MSF’s effort in saving lives in the forgotten crises, the ones that are rarely covered by the media and to collect as much money as possible to assist MSF in saving even more lives.These crises are forgotten not only because they are old news, but also because they are “far away”. One way to change these two perceptions is to let the average Norwegian witness the crises with his own eyes. To recruit and physically bring the average Norwegian to the forgotten crises and witness the needs with his/her own eyes. In this way we could create trustworthy main characters for the TV-spots and interesting stories for the media.Small newspaper ads simply stating that MSF wanted eyewitnesses for their field work in the forgotten crises. The ad also contained a warning: 'Think twice before applying – see our web site to make sure you know what you are getting into.'

The selection process and the stories from the eyewitnesses drew massive media attention in all channels, both national and local. The barely visible ads obtained massive media attention and among the 13,000 people that applied four were selected for the TV-spots. A bus driver, a student, a sales engineer and a housewife.

In addition to the four TV-spots we produced four documentaries that NRK (the Norwegian Broadcasting Company) broadcast as an editorial programme at prime time. The four also played a significant role in NRK’s coverage of the fundraiser.

They were even referred to by Crown Prince Haakon Magnus in NRK’s interview with him during the occasion.