While broadcasters are hard-pressed to find slots to flight ads free of charge, Saatchi & Saatchi and The Children's Hospital Trust are appealing to them to give airtime to an ad which was produced for love and no money by major players in the industry.
The cause: to dramatically raise awareness and call for much needed funds for the 50 year old specialist Hospital, the only one dedicated entirely to children in sub-Saharan Africa.
The advertisement which focuses on "helping children get out of hospital and back to their childhood" was produced by Peter Gird Productions and directed by Mike Middleton.
"The challenge was to inspire people to give a sick child their childhood back and our inspiration and insight came from the unquestionable fact that we all remember moments of our childhood as being the very best moments of our lives," says Eric Frank, Executive Creative Director of Saatchi & Saatchi Afrika.
"Toys play a major role in a child's life and each and every toy has a plays a pivotal role of its own."
The music for the advertisement is a song owned by Disney which was composed by world renowned singer, composer and lyricist Paul Williams. Proving that nothing is impossible, the team at Saatchi & Saatchi secured the rights to the song with the kind permission of Disney at no cost: "Everyone has pulled together on this one and not only given their time but also of their equity to help us produce an ad which is simply beautiful and really takes the message straight to the heart.
"We want to appeal to our national TV stations to assist us in our mission to create awareness for the Hospital and in so doing help raise the funds they so desperately need. Please folks, show this film again and again and again, as much as you can and let's see the bucks roll in for a brilliant cause."
