WATERisLIFE shows how short life can be in Sub-Saharan Africa in new work via DDB NY

DDB New York and WATERisLIFE have launched an emotional campaign titled, “Kenya Bucket List,” where a film crew travelled to Kenya to take a four-year-old Maasai boy named Nkaitole (pronounced Guytolie), who’s never been out of his remote African village, on an adventure to do all the things he’s always wanted to do before he dies. Why? Because in sub-Saharan Africa where he lives, unsafe drinking water is one of the main causes that prevents one in five children from reaching their fifth birthday.

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The Bucket List is a term popularized by the Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson film of the same name. By creating a campaign around this phrase, WATERisLIFE has again used pop culture as an integral part of their marketing communication. It follows on the heels of last year’s successful “Hashtag Killer” campaign, in which they attempted to eliminate the popular #FirstWorldProblems hashtag by traveling to Haiti and filming locals as they read the insensitive tweets back to their original authors. 

The campaign is centered around a deeply emotional and powerful two-minute film, which documents Nkaitole’s bucket list from start to finish. In it, the viewer watches him (along with his Uncle Joel) traveling across Kenya, experiencing things like getting his first kiss, seeing the ocean for the first time, playing soccer in the national stadium (his personal favorite), flying in a hot air balloon, learning to ice skate, and trying ice cream. The film compiles all of these amazing experiences to help drive home the message that this little boy might not reach his fifth birthday unless we help him and the other children of sub-Saharan Africa.

Says Matt Eastwood, chief creative officer, DDB New York: “This campaign gives a face to the millions of young African children who will not live to see their fifth birthday. We hope that by sharing this one child’s experience, we can help raise enough money to provide Nkaitole and thousands of other children with clean water and the chance at a long and healthy life.”

The campaign will be launched with the help of WATERisLIFE’s social channels, with messaging that includes the #5YearsToLive hashtag on Twitter, a series of video clips where American children recite their bucket list on Facebook, and a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the campaign through photos and videos on Instagram. More traditional elements include a series of print ads, each of which will highlight individual bucket list experiences, as well as radio, which will roll out at a later date.

The focus of the campaign is to shed light on the hardships of children in underprivileged societies, as well as to provide them with direct help.

Says Kristine Bender, executive director of WATERisLIFE: “Like our previous campaigns, we’ll direct donations from this video to help those who actually appear in it. Nkaitole’s village, as well as many other Maasai villages like his, will be able to receive clean water, proper sanitation and hygiene education as a result of this effort.”

DDB New York and WATERisLIFE had separate fundraisers to raise money to produce The Bucket List campaign. This instalment marks the second campaign for WATERisLIFE since they partnered with DDB New York in early 2012. Each campaign has been more successful than the last, with donations increasing by over 500% since this partnership began.

To donate or learn more about WATERisLIFE, visit www.waterislife.com.

Client: WATERisLIFE

Music: Singing Serpent