As a society, the Dutch rather not talk in-depth about death. Not surprisingly, this behaviour is counter-productive to the process of grief and healing. Therefore SIRE - a Dutch NGO that focuses on social awareness campaigns - wants to invite people to talk more openly about death. Because by lowering our masks and speaking up, we can foster a more open and honest society.

Thanks to our collaboration with psychologists and specialists, we were able to make a real impact in breaking down the barriers around discussing death and promoting more open and supportive conversations about this important topic.

We created a campaign around the cliches and ready-made lines people often use in order to talk around death and labeled them as ‘Dead Ends’. Most of these are recognisable for many of us, as we have heard them often or maybe even used them ourselves. For instance, ‘at least she lived a long life’. By doing this, we highlighted our reflex to avoid the topic of death and demonstrated its impact to one another. By confronting these ‘Dead Ends’, we encourage more open and honest conversations about death, and help people better support one another in times of loss and grief.

We held up a mirror to the Dutch by putting all those trivial, ready-made lines we use to avoid talking about death, in the spotlight.

As death concerns and affects everyone, our target audience was society as a whole. Therefore we enrolled an extensive media strategy. Recognisable situations right before or after encounters of death, were the starting point for film and radio. For visual-only media such as print, bannering, and social we created tombstones for numerous different Dead Ends. Each one with its very own style and feel.

Everything led to an online cemetery for Dead Ends. Here one could find necessary information, and tips on how to actually start a conversation about death. People could also share Dead Ends they have had experienced themselves. Some of those were later implemented in the campaign.

The entire campaign was created together with psychologists and specialists on the topic.

The Dead Ends always had to come across as somewhat embarrassing and out of place in their environment. In video and radio this meant an honest, realistic setting. In digital and print media we used visuals of different tombstones to make the blunt and direct lines feel out of place. This was emphasised by the use of rich and diverse typography.

Since SIRE is an NGO, all the work put into this campaign was on pro bono basis. Thus: no stock, no expensive fonts. We composed and crafted each visual individually digitally. And when you have nothing, everything is possible. So we got creative and granted every Dead End with a unique style and feel. Every line got its very own designed typography, and each grave was placed into a newly created environment.

The campaign aired for four months across all channels and received a great deal of media attention.

Overall, the campaign effectively reached a wide audience, while also breaking down barriers and promoting more open and supportive conversations about a difficult topic.

· 98% of the people in the Netherlands became aware of our message.

· In fact, 42% would opt for a rerun of the campaign.

· People’s willingness to talk about death rose with a whopping 31%

· And even with 62% among children.

· Increase of 36% of people who believe talking about death decreases fear for it

· Significant increase of 107% of people who intent to discuss the passing of someone close with friends or family after seeing the campaign.

· The campaign caused quite the media stir as more than 1.200 articles were published in the wake of it and received over ten million online reactions and mentions.