Hasta La Creative!

For the first time in more than 10 years, the National Court Appointed Special Advocates and Guardian ad Litem Association for Children (CASA/GAL) are launching a new campaign with the help of advertising agency, R&R Partners. The multimedia campaign aims to increase brand awareness and recruit volunteers to provide best interest advocacy in courts for children who have experienced abuse and neglect.

National CASA/GAL supports and promotes court-appointed volunteer advocates so every child who has experienced abuse or neglect can be safe, have a permanent home, and experience the opportunity to thrive. The organization, which has existed for almost 40 years, has 950 state and local programs across the country. CASA/GAL volunteers are appointed by judges to advocate for children’s best interests. They stay with each case until it’s closed and the child is in a safe, permanent home. The 94,000 volunteers work with legal and child welfare professionals, educators and service providers to ensure that judges have all the information they need to make the most well-informed decisions for each child.

R&R created two public service announcements for National CASA/GAL. Filmed from a child’s perspective during a transition from one placement to another, each is a portrait of a frightened and confused child who has no idea where they are going. In “Instability,” a girl is thrust into a new environment and feels like a complete outsider. Then she meets her CASA/GAL volunteer, who is 100% her advocate. In “Then You Came Along,” a boy is depicted going through a similar experience and, ultimately, meeting his caring CASA/GAL volunteer.

We created a real-life replica of a fictional video game weapon and asked unsuspecting people in New York to pose with it for a pop-up photoshoot. The participants did not know that the weapon prop was rigged to generate a recoil effect which was trigged via remote control. A police car and a mailbox were also rigged and synced with the weapon recoil to pop open when the weapon was pointed at them. Hidden cameras captured the shocked reactions of the participants who thought they caused some serious damage by accidentally pulling the trigger.