ShelterBox | Landslide in Sri Lanka

A TV spot for ShelterBox.

This mother and child live near Bible Rock in Sri Lanka, and in May their home was destroyed by a landslide after days of torrential rain. The family was one of the few who had any part of their home remaining: most were engulfed, leaving no trace. Whole families were lost.

ShelterBox delivered the most basic and universal need: shelter. Families with nothing left, shocked and grieving, had a safe place to sleep, the means to prepare food, kit to make water safe.

Meanwhile, in Cornwall, the staff at ShelterBox HQ were planning new ways to recruit new donors to fund this life-saving work.

Over the past few months we’ve been working with On Agency, recruited by ShelterBox to develop their donor acquisition. Part of that was a DRTV spot – ShelterBox’s first foray into TV.

The focus is ’The Box’ – supporters love the absolute tangibility of this incredible charity product. A green plastic box packed with a tent, thermal blankets, water purifying kit: the things a family needs if devastated by disaster. So for good reason the section of the ad showing the charity’s response is longer than you might usually see in fundraising DRTV.

When ShelterBox volunteers were deployed to a landslide site in Sri Lanka, Brad from StoryPartners and Jonny from On followed shortly behind. They achieved everything they needed in two days of filming – Jonny makes a brief appearance in the finished ad, chucking the box up a steep and muddy path.

We have to particularly acknowledge Chris at On Agency, the driving creative force. He invited close collaboration, and his intense focus on developing need shows through every scene.

Written by Chris Nield
Music by Mark Adair