PROBLEM: Lung cancer is the biggest killer of all cancer. Create a campaign that will prompt people to get checked when they have symptoms.

SOLUTION: Something as innocent as a persistent cough could be a warning from your lungs that you have lung cancer. We brought this insight to life by with the idea that a cough could be hiding lung cancer.

The total cost of the coughing billboard campaign was €6,192. The campaign generated €59890.26 advertising value equivalency without a single penny spent on PR. it generated over 5.6 million media impressions and was covered in numerous industry and consumer articles, which spoke of the importance of advertising when done well and for the right reasons.

Founder and Judge

PROBLEM: Advertising has an ageism problem.

SOLUTION: I pushed the idea of the Grey Lions Competition to IAPI in order to tackle perceptions around ageism in the creative industry and to show that creatives over 50 are just as capable in fresh ways of thinking as their young counterparts. The competition runs in the same fashion as the Cannes Young Lions. I was on the judging panel and in the near future the competition may go on to be adapted in other countries.

PROBLEM: More than half of Dublin’s litter is cigarette butts. People are ok with throwing them away as they are small and there is a perception they decompose and don’t harm the environment.

SOLUTION: See it for what it is. Litter. show people directly that cigarette butts are litter by making them into litter and prompting them to bin the butt from now on.

PROBLEM: 50-65 year olds are not availing of the bowel cancer screening service. We were asked to create a direct mail letter to send out to select addresses to notify them to avail of the bowel screen service

SOLUTION: We decided that the piece needed to be bigger than a letter and created the “Give a Shit” campaign prompting the target audience emotionally and literally to avail of the service. We printed our direct mail piece on toilet paper as a humorous reminder.

PROBLEM: More men die of skin cancer than women. Men aren’t protecting themselves from harmful rays. There is a happy go lucky attitude that men have tougher skin and don’t burn as easily.

SOLUTION: We encourage men not to be skin chancers. We created 3 visuals of men typical of the target audience and used an infrared photography style to draw attention to the protagonist. We also created a mural using thermo-chromatic ink that changed colour as the temperature went up.

PROBLEM: People don’t want to apply to be a firefighter as there is the stereotype of a big strong male attached and this can put them off the job or make them think that they do not have what it takes.

SOLUTION: Show people that firefighting is about more than just physical strength. We decided to concentrate on other important skills needed to become a fire fighter prompting people to apply.

PROBLEM: Childhood obesity is at an all time high and parents are finding it tougher to say no to them. We want to empower them with the tools to be able to say no to treats.

SOLUTION: we wanted to empathise with parents and show them that by being the bad guy in small situations it makes them the hero in the long run.

PROBLEM: Help us show that we understand Irish life so that we are at top of mind as an insurance provider.

SOLUTION: Having insurance with Irish Life helps you embrace what ever life may throw at you. We created a campaign drenched in Irish insight to show we understand Irish life.

I have a hobby of finding weird images on stock websites and making ads out of them… Enjoy!

We created this piece to challenge the Irish Mental Health System and the Irish public. The public is not informed or aware about the level of crisis, in which we currently are. A system which is inadequate. A system failing us. A system killing us. With this piece we are educating viewers that it is harder to get help than you think. Ireland’s Mental Health Support Services are a joke and we are done laughing.

We want to interrupt the ad break with a stand-up comedic routine, designed to disrupt from the usual and the expected. This will spark the interest of the audience at home as it is viewed as bonus entertainment instead of another ad. They will then be confronted by brutal honesty and a real human story.

We see a comedian on stage delivering a stand-up routine. The routine moves from humorous to a more serious tone. As he continues, we can hear the emotion build in his voice. We are showing a moment of real crisis and the frustration that comes with waiting. We are then snapped back to reality as the stage match cuts to real life setting.

We use crowd laughter as a creative device throughout, to show how inappropriate and disrespectful our mental health services are to those in desperate need of help. The crowd laughter that interrupts is there to create an uncomfortable contradiction.

For the real production we would choose a young comedian who would resonate with our target audience. The call to action is ‘Stand up for your mental health’ and directs people to the ‘A Lust for Life’ website for more information. This piece is empowering, designed to create outrage at the current situation.

Mental illness is no joke so why is our system?

Art Director: Dean Ryan

Copywriter: Rebecca Dore

This was our 2019 shortlisted entry to Cannes Young Lions.

Problem: Racism has become an everyday occurrence in Ireland and people are letting it happen. Get People to download the iReport app and prompt them to report racism when they witness it.

Solution: We cerated a simple (you’ve seen it before) shampoo style advert but with an African protagonist. We use innovative use of the surround sound in cinema and as the ad is playing out on screen we start to hear racial comments coming from the audience. The use of surround sound in cinema is key to this concept. You may only hear a couple of comments throughout depending on where you are sitting but everyone will hear the final comment.

PROBLEM: Show people that we are official hydration partner of the Rugby World Cup.

SOLUTION: We concentrated on the symbiotic relationship that fans and players have. The fans energy is passed on to the players and they both drive each other forward.