ABOUT

The Garvan Institute of Medical Research is a leading multidisciplinary biomedical research institute in Sydney. Though largely unknown to the public, Garvan have revealed causes and treatments for countless diseases including diabetes, osteoporosis, cancer, immunodeficiency and autoimmunity. Our brief was to raise awareness and funding for Garvan beyond their current limited donor base. Our insight – with thousands of disease related charities competing for donations, how do you decide who to help? We confronted the public with a range of life-threatening diseases, posing this exact question. Help the young mother with pancreatic cancer, or the musician with Parkinson’s disease? The teacher with a kidney condition, or the student with immune disease? Each execution challenges you to think, interact and ultimately donate to the Garvan Institute, whose genomics research can help them all. ‘Disease Dilemmas’ features 12 people living with different diseases, each captured against a neutral background, eyes facing camera. These quietly confronting portraits were then put in specific pairings and combinations that made choosing one or the other impossible. From consecutive bus shelters to large scale roadside billboards and even tram wraps, we imposed our dilemmas on the audience in countless confronting ways, with a CTA to visit diseasedilemmas org. ‘Disease Dilemmas’ generated over 87 million impressions, 1.1 million dollars in earned media and 61% increase in website traffic. Most importantly, the Garvan Institute received over 19 million dollars in donations in the campaign period.