GRAACC wants to end society’s prejudice against bald children. Many kids say that one of the hardest parts of battling cancer is the stares and whispers in the playground, as other kids react to their bald head.

Our idea was to challenge people’s perceptions. Baldness wasn't something to be stared at. Baldness was just another part of life for normal kids, who happened to be fighting for their lives.

We invited famous cartoon characters to go bald to spread a powerful message: “A child with cancer deserves to be seen just like any other child.”

We spoke with cartoons artists and studios and asked them to re-sketch their characters as Baldies.

Next, we had to convince the TV and Newspaper broadcasters to support the campaign. We asked for regular media, but also to become a natural part of their editorial programming so the Baldie cartoons could become content in TV, comics strips etc.

We used this content to promote the National Day Against Childhood Cancer (November 23th). We published all the Baldies character content: Special cartoon episodes broadcast on the most relevant children’s channels; short animated films; newspaper comic strips; comic books; posters; songs; and a website housing all the campaign content and prompting people to interact and share the materials.

To generate buzz and involvement for the campaign, we had a specific “influencers strategy”, aiming other mainstream / pop-culture characters (influencers and celebrities) to join and talk about the campaign to their networks on Facebook, Twitter and blogs.

Our idea was to challenge people’s perceptions. Baldness wasn't something to be stared at or whispered about. Baldness was just another part of life for normal kids, who happened to be fighting for their lives with strength and courage.

We targeted all Brazilians, both children and adults, because at some moment in their lives they will have contact with a child with cancer.

The campaign was a humbling reminder of business’ and people’s willingness to engage with and share branded content, when given a powerful message:

-More than 40 famous characters became a Baldie.

-Special episodes aired on: Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Fox Kids etc.

-Comic strips were featured in newspapers/magazines such as Folha de São Paulo, Combo Rangers and Monica’s Gang.

-230 millions people were reached by the campaign.

-91% of Brazilian Social Media users were impacted. Engaged with the campaign, either sharing videos, downloading posters or changing profile pictures. Even Brazilian president tweeted the campaign.

-Despite no request for donations – GRAACC received 10 times more than in 2012.

-Best of all, children with cancer no longer felt different after having Baldie heroes by their side.

We launched the campaign at the National Day Against Childhood Cancer at GRAACC. We created an avant-première session and exposition for the Hospital’s children and invited the media to attend.

Then, we published all the baldies character content across several forms of media: Special episodes broadcast on the most relevant children’s channels, short animated films, newspaper strips, comic books, posters, songs; and an engaging website housing all content and prompting people to interact and engage.

GRAACC, a nonprofit organization, had a clear goal: end prejudice against children with cancer. With a limited budget the Hospital asked Ogilvy to change the parameters and create something new with a well thought out strategy.

The strategy was “cartoon characters centered”. Cartoon characters were our heroes, our protagonists, our spokespeople, our campaign and our central PR asset: They became bald to support children with cancer.

Beyond sharing the GRAACC message, the team created a special event for GRAACC. Cancer patients watched, firsthand, all the movies and met all the characters in an exclusive exhibition inside the hospital. Every important news and magazine covered this event which helped spread the GRAAACC message even further.

We also asked influencers and celebrities to share the campaign content via their social networks and invite their followers to support the campaign by changing their profile pictures to a bald cartoon.

As a result, we reached 120 million people with online and offline media, including the President of the Country that tweeted about the campaign 3 times.