The cruelty of killing fox cubs for sport is highlighted in a TV sports show parody created by Engine Creative in one of their first campaigns under their new House 337 banner. The campaign was conceived for Keep The Ban – a non-profit organisation that campaigns against the hunting of wildlife for sport, including the killing of fox cubs through a practice called ‘cubbing’ which is used to prepare the hounds for the foxhunting season.
‘Cubbing’, the equivalent of the ‘pre-season’ for foxhunting – which typically occurs in late August and September – involves hunters training their dogs to kill fox cubs as they are easier to catch than adult foxes.
The practice is responsible for slaughtering thousands of defenceless fox cubs in England and Wales each year. Yet few members of the public know about it – 88% of people have never heard of it, and just 5% know what it is, making cubbing one of fox hunting’s dirtiest secrets – but when it is explained, 69% of people are against it, according to Keep The Ban research conducted in July 2022.
Under the 2004 Hunting Act, fox hunting, deer hunting, and hare hunting are illegal in the UK. Several exemptions under the act are used by fox hunts to avoid prosecution, however, making it difficult for the police and Crown Prosecution Service to enforce the hunting ban – a situation Keep The Ban is campaigning to change.
To support Keep The Ban’s work, Engine set out to raise awareness of cubbing and help efforts to persuade more people to support the campaign against it. In the new 118-second film, ‘The World’s Worst Sport’, a TV sports presenter and expert commentator in a TV studio discuss the countdown to a cubbing session as they might preview a football match, also interacting with a reporter ‘live’ from a field where the families of foxes live.
We caught up with Engine/House 337 creative director Steve Hawthorne to get a little more insight into this satirical concept.
What was the brief?
We were tasked with raising awareness of an activity called ‘cubbing’. This happens in the run-up to the main fox hunting season and is where the hunters train hounds to hunt foxes by practising on defenceless fox cubs. Research showed that only 5% of people know what cubbing is.
How did the initial pitch/brainstorming phase go?
The bad thing about a project like this is that it forces you to face up to how sick and twisted some human beings are. The good thing is that you get to work with some truly awesome human beings to do something about it.
In this case, those human beings came in the shape of the wonderful people at Glue Society, Biscuit, the Mill, String and Tins, plus the endlessly inspirational and impressive crew at Keep The Ban. Go Team Cub!”
There were various challenges. Most of us didn’t even know that fox hunting still happened. We thought it was a thing of the past, having been banned in 2004. Sadly we were wrong. Fox hunting still happens almost as much as it ever has. The hunters just hide behind smoke screens and legal loopholes.
What was the process behind ideating the concept?
The creative team, Joe and Doug, realised that fox hunters consider what they do to be a ‘sport’. The organisation behind it even rebranded recently to call itself the British Hound Sports Association.
The team pointed out that if a bunch of human adults on horseback with a pack of hounds versus a couple of defenceless fox cubs is a sport, then it’s the most one-sided sport in history. That led to the idea behind our film – The World’s Worst Sport.
What was the production process like?
We were lucky enough to partner with Biscuit Filmworks and Glue Society on the production of this film. Making it for the budget we had would have been impossible without a lot of incredibly talented people putting in a huge amount of work for a very small amount of money.
The fact that we could work with the legends that are Glue Society, the Mill and String and Tins on this was incredible. Hopefully, it is a testament to the script, to the cause and to the great work that Keep The Ban does in fighting for the protection of British wildlife.
What was the biggest challenge during production? How did you overcome it?
One of the biggest challenges was casting. We wanted our cast to be really believable in their roles as presenters of a sports show. The idea was for them to play it completely straight. Like cubbing is a real sport, just like any other. Under Glue Society’s watchful eye, we could pick an incredible cast of actors who we felt did the script justice.
What kit/tools/software were used to create the project?
Not sure. Sorry. But our super-producer Adam did manage to sweet-talk a couple of people into pretending to be fox hunters in the film’s background. Along with their two beautiful horses.
What is one funny or notable thing that happened during production?
For the very last take of our day filming outside with ‘Jess’, we tried spraying her face with blood, as though the poor cub was being torn apart right next to her. We only had one shot at this as we didn’t have the time, budget or wardrobe for multiple takes.
So, with much trepidation and a syringe full of blood, we set about our last take. Everything went perfectly. The lines were read correctly, the blood was fired perfectly. Everything was great. Except, when we saw it in the edit we knew (as we had suspected) that it was too much. So our poor star got a faceful of fake blood for nothing.
What’s the main message of this project and why does it matter?
The message is that not only does fox hunting still happen, despite being ‘banned’ in 2004, but there is a pre-season to the main hunting season where dogs are trained to kill fox cubs. It’s utterly barbaric and needs to be stopped. Once and for all.
How long did it take from inception to delivery?
Around nine months.
What do you hope it achieves for the brand?
Keep The Ban are an incredible organisation. The founder, Rob Pownall, set it up when he was just 16 years old because he felt so passionately about the subject matter. He is a really inspirational guy, and Keep The Ban should be a household name.
Credit list for the work?
Chief Creative Officer - Billy Faithfull
Creative Director - Steve Hawthorne, Katy Hopkins
Creative - Doug Redfern
Creative - Joe Roberts
Designer - Aaron Pacey
Senior Influencer Strategist - Paul Lynch
Senior Strategist - Jack Cartwright
Account Management - Rich Williams
Agency Producer - Henry Davies
Production Company - Biscuit Filmworks x Revolver
Executive Producer - Sam Chitty
Director - Glue Society
Producer - Adam Farley
Post production - The Mill
Post-Producer - Kathryn Wigginton
Colourist - Maruf Kahn @ The Mill
Sound Design - String and Tins
