Barretos Cancer Hospital wanted to let the entire country know of its relevance – currently the largest cancer hospital in Latin America. Patients from all 27 States travel for hours and even days by bus to be treated there.

That is when we discovered that there was an airport just 5 miles away from the hospital. But it did not have commercial flights. Could we extol the hospital’s relevance to the point of opening up this airport?

We turned this discovery into our cause and spread it everywhere. We sent media kits to the main newspapers of the country and plush planes to opinion makers and celebrities with a brief explanation of the campaign.

The media immediately joined the campaign and donated space for us to provoke the airlines. Thus, the spotlight turned to the airport and the hospital and the cause was shared millions of times throughout the social media becoming news in the most important channels of the country.

Our objective was to extol Barretos Cancer Hospital’s relevance. And nothing could prove it more than the opening of an airport for the hospital. But that is not a goal that can be reached with just a campaign. We needed the entire country demanding this flight.

Therefore, our target was everyone: Patients, their families, doctors, common people and celebrities.

Over 252 thousand people booked a seat in the Facebook petition. There were 291 million social media views with celebrities as well as common people supporting the cause. 84 thousand emails were sent to the airlines directly from our website.

In just 2 months, the Federal Government included the airport in the Aviation Regional Plan, investing US$ 9.1 million in renovations. And, on March, 22nd, 2014, Passaredo Airlines landed its first commercial flight in Barretos. The Flight Against Cancer had been created and the Barretos Cancer Hospital’s relevance had been corroborated.

We launched the campaign on April, 23rd, 2013, on Xuxa Meneghel’s birthday, the most famous TV announcer in Brazil. The General Director of the Barretos Cancer Hospital, Mr. Henrique Prata gifted her with our plush plane in the event's stage in front of tens of journalists.

That same day, we aired our website flightagainstcancer.com.br. There people could watch the video explaining the cause and share their support so the entire country could see it.

From then on, the Flight Against Cancer started receiving millions of pilots in the social media. Even the media donated space for us to provoke the airlines. The campaign lasted a year until, finally, we were able to make the creation of a flight official.

We had the opportunity to have two campaigns in one: Show the hospital’s relevance and make the patients' and doctors’ access easier.

Moreover, the entire country was discussing the airport infrastructure for FIFA’s World Cup in Brazil. Why not discuss an airport that could save lives? More than an idea for a campaign, we had a newsworthy story capable of changing the lives of thousands of people.

We created platforms to amplify our demand for the flight. Be it by creating a website where people could book a seat in a Facebook petition or sending emails directly to the airlines, that is, treating the campaign as news and not an advertisement.

This way, we would get the support of the press, because it was an extremely structurally important cause for the country, and from the general population who felt like they were being a part of this victory.