Take Heart Australia introduces puppet mascot RESUS ANDY + web-series via H+K Strategies
On behalf of its pro bono client Take Heart Australia (THA), Hill+Knowlton Strategies has just produced an outrageous new mini web-series featuring an uppity puppet called RESUS ANDY and comedienne Tegan Higginbotham, written and directed by H+K’s head of content, Nick Snelling.
About to launch via social media, the videos are not only laugh-out-loud funny and irreverent, they are all about relaying the dismal statistics around Sudden Cardiac Arrest in Australia and telling everyday Aussies how they individually have the power to change them.
The videos will be seeded online and pushed out through owned, earned and paid platforms in the lead-up to the charity’s big event on Take Heart Australia Day (Monday November 30) where the entirety of Allianz Stadium will be open to teach high-quality CPR for FREE by paramedics and qualified CPR instructors from the likes of Ambulance Australia, St John’s Ambulance, Royal Flying Doctors Service and many more.
So… who is Resus exactly?
Well, depending on who you speak to, he is either…
a) a rather opinionated resuscitation mannequin accidentally bestowed life during a routine CPR drill, or;
b) a new puppet operated by award-winning puppeteer Heath McIvor (best known as the talented hand behind Randy Feltface of Sammy J and Randy in Ricketts Lane, but also his puppetry work on productions such as The Hobbit, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Walking With Dinosaurs)
Says Penelope Holloway, managing director, H+K: “We wanted to come up with something that would both amuse everyday Aussies, but also galvanise them into action. The fact is, the stats around Sudden Cardiac Arrest are woeful for a supposedly developed nation. Each year in Australia, around 30,000 people experience a SCA. The shocking reality is only 9-10 per cent survive. Now, compare that figure with a city like Seattle where over 60 per cent of people survive. Why? Because three-quarters of their population are trained in CPR. That means Australia has a major problem: every year, up to 12,000 people of all ages are dying who really don’t have to.”
Says Professor Paul Middleton, THA founder and clinical associate professor of emergency medicine at University of Sydney: “I cannot thank H+K enough for coming up with this idea and then executing it the way they have. Not only is Resus Andy very very funny, he’s carrying an important message that all Aussies need to hear.
“We think he’s going to be a great way to get people to sit up and pay attention. Plus, the kids love him… even if he does scare the adults a little.”
(Pictured: Stand-up comic Tegan Higginbotham, Professor Paul Middleton (THA founder) and RESUS ANDY)
Executive Producer: Hill+Knowlton Strategies Australia for TAKE HEART AUSTRALIA
Starring: Resus Andy and Tegan Higginbotham
Writer/Director: Nicholas Snelling
Additional writing: Heath McIvor and Tegan Higginbotham
Director of Photography/Editor/Sound Design: Shayne Cantly of Evolution Studios – www.evolutionstudios.com.au
Music: Shayne Cantly & Dale Reubens
Hair & Make-up: Dempsey Rei
Filmed at VNR Studios, Surry Hills, Sydney: www.vnr.com.au
3 Comments
Dear sweet Jesus. Kill it. Kill it with fire.
Never, ever say that your campaign is ‘laugh out loud funny.’
Because it invariably isn’t.
And this really, really isn’t.
Louis CK is ‘laugh out loud funny.’
These are just a bit shit.
Umm… huh?
Did they actually claim to be “laugh out loud funny”, or was that Campaign Brief’s sub-editor responsible for applying that particular hyperbolic descriptor? I guess we’ll never know, but maybe they simply thought it was chortle-worthy enough for an LOL.
Speaking of co-joined adjectives, unlike you, oh Wise One and Dispenser of Campaign Advice, they remembered to use hyphens… and you didn’t.
But hey, clearly you know your shit. Except for, er… basic grammar.
Personally, I thought they were pretty damn funny myself. Especially the gags tacked on the end of each ep.
But then, either way it takes a special kind of snarky douchebag to criticise what was a pro bono charity campaign, doesn’t it?