"Look at me." Three simple words parents hear with such regularity that many of us have learned to drown it out. This radio ad uses that simple phrase, over and over again, as the waves come crashing down, to highlight the perils of not paying attention to your child in the water.

Child:

Daddy! Daddy! Look at me! Look at me!

Daddy! Daddy! Look! Look at me!

Daddy! Daddy! Look! Look at me! Look at me!

Daddy! Daddy! Look! Look at me!

Da...da...daddy! Look at me!

Daddy! Daddy! Look at me!

Announcer:

Look away for a moment and they could be taken away forever.

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Drowning is the second biggest cause of accidental deaths for children in Ireland. This radio PSA aired during the summer of the Covid-19 pandemic when the risk of drowning grew significantly in Ireland because more Irish people who weren’t used to swimming in the dangerous seas around the country were visiting local beaches due to a mix of good weather and the restriction on international travel.

The casting process was extensive. We needed to find a child actor who could convincingly bring a full range of emotions to the single phrase “look at me”, going from happy to terrified in just a few seconds. Not only that, we had to find an actor who could do it all while under water and had parents who would let her.

After many rounds we street cast a non-actor from a local swimming club who had the perfect mix of confidence and vulnerability. A sporty and fearless 10-year old with bags of energy who was willing to run laps of a beach so she sounded out of breath, who was happy to let water go down the wrong way to sound like she was choking, and who was enthusiastic about diving under the water to perform take after take after take.