Our immediate goal was to give the audience a first hand experience of what it would be like to be homeless and cold. The point of the communication was to put the audience into the shoes of the homeless if only for a few minutes to make them understand the urgent need for blankets for the homeless.

Our message was conveyed in original, simple and unusual manner. Because people had experienced the reality of what it’s like to be homeless, they were forthcoming with help and assistance. Salvation Army bins were placed in the cinema lobby for donations for blankets and looking at how many were collected over the ensuing weeks we could be sure that the plea for blankets for the homeless was fully understood.

We took advantage of the use of cinema. Instead of the usual and expected cinema screen ad we used the air conditioning in the cinema to our advantage and to make our point. By turning the temperature down from its initial 26 degrees Celsius to 0 degrees Celsius we made the cinema screening room very cold before patrons entered to watch the movie. In this way, our plea for blankets for the homeless was not only seen when the message came up on screen, but literally experienced by the audience.

Our simple, yet powerful message was experienced by the entire audience. By using the temperature of the room we got the audience’s attention and also broke through the clutter. We actually made people realise what it would be like to be homeless and without blankets for the winter season.

In looking for ways to bring our message to life we immediately turned to the cinema. Using cinema would mean we had a captive audience, which would also experience the message and the idea. Cinema allowed our message to transcend the one dimensional communication barrier. In this way the audience would empathise with the homeless and the plea for blankets would become urgent and real.