In 2019, the number of people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County was nearly 60,000. In 2021, after a global pandemic, that number had risen 12.7% to 66,433, of which 14,000 people live on the 0.4 square mile radius of Downtown Los Angeles called Skid Row. This is where our story begins. By illustrating individual stories, we aimed to bridge divides and build empathy for one another. By partnering with Tide, we were able to create long term impact on not only the Los Angeles community but build awareness and empathy within our society and further drive brand marketing for good.

The series provides an inside look at the raw and true stories of people experiencing homelessness on Skid Row. Woven together through a fictional character, the Tent Mender, we meet each individual and come to know their unique story. We worked with Midnight Mission, a human services organization in California, to share their purpose and provide a glimpse into the humanity that their work brings. Through key brand partnerships we created a permanent laundry room (Tide Loads of Hope) for the community, and authentically delivered the positive impact and power that clean clothes can provide within the last episode of the series. Three of our non-fictional characters had original songs inspired by and created about their stories that were woven into the docu-series experience.

Whether someone is in a tent or a house, we all need some kind of help. And in that truth, we aren’t all that different. In fact, we are far more alike than we think. What if there was a way to illustrate this truth? The power of each individual’s story was most important throughout the series. Weaving the fictional character of the tent mender with the real people on Skid Row created a unique and never seen way to truly get to the heart of those stories. Literally creating “docu-fiction.” Brand integration helped ensure the long- term impact, creating influence with like-minded brands and organizations that could use their scale for good while also achieving business growth to continue to create meaningful work like The Tent Mender.

The Tent Mender was a project we believed in and wanted to shine a light on. Helping provide renewed hope to people in need when clean clothes matter is the core of the Tide Loads of Hope mission. This expanded our efforts through building the first permanent Loads of Hope laundry room at the Midnight Mission.

The Tent Mender launched on Aug 6th, streaming free on IMDbTV, to enable anyone to view. Amazon created a custom customer journey and bespoke campaign hub on both FireTV and IMDbTV. The team created an innovative program to allow viewers to donate directly leveraging Amazon Smile’s e-commerce platform. We also donated $30,000 of additional Procter & Gamble products, and all partners promoted across their social, owned, and operated channels.

We all have a part to play impacting change in our world. The Tent Mender did just that, harnessing the power of storytelling and brand partnership to create meaningful media that empowers, influences empathy and creates change at scale.

In a first ever program for Amazon, via Amazon Smile, e-commerce donations could be made by viewers to purchase products directly for the Midnight Mission--an innovative way for viewers to take immediate action based on viewing the show.

The Tent Mender received over 28.3MM impressions on the landing page and a 91% video completion rate by the IMDb TV pre-roll bumper.

The world and advertising industry took notice, as the series garnered 22 pieces of coverage with 4.24B online reach and an estimated 4M views, including coverage by Decider, Collider, Yahoo, TVGuide, AdWeek, AdAge. Additionally, The Tent Mender was ranked 2nd in AdAge’s Top 5 creative campaigns during launch week.