The World’s Biggest Asshole is a two-minute film introducing Coleman Sweeney, played by Thomas Jane and narrated by Will Arnett. Coleman is seen throwing bottles of piss from trucks, stealing panties from the laundromat and showing zero respect for anyone. But when Coleman dies, he goes from asshole to hero all because it turns out that Coleman was an organ donor.

From briefing to launch, it took 18 months to bring “The World’s Biggest Asshole” to life.

To kick-off the campaign, we hosted a “wake,” where we had the first public screening of “The World’s Biggest Asshole.” We also had additional “Asshole” executions including cinema, banners, out-of-home, and a Snapchat filter.

Because millennial men consume content online and are active on social networks, we anchored the campaign on YouTube. Additionally, by posting under a character’s name, rather than a Donate Life account, we kept the PSA aspect of the work a secret until the reveal at the end of the film. This helped incite organic sharing.

After launch, the core video went viral and was viewed more than 80 million times in 76+ countries.

The immense impact of the video lasted over a month, with the ripple effect continuing for many months following.

“The World’s Biggest Asshole” was viewed more than 60 million times in the first two weeks. During this time donor registrations went from 149 people/day to 1,022 people per day, a 698% increase. As for the specific demographics, millennial registrations were up 1,650% in this time period and millennial men in particular were up 215%. In the 4 weeks after-launch, more than 30,000 total donors were added to the registry.

In sum, a generation of donors with the potential impact on 840,000 lives was registered.