Music has a way of bringing people together.
A whimsical new 30-second PSA to promote Music Monday features animated musical notes raining, growing, sprouting from flowers and ultimately melding together to form a map of Canada. It’s set to a rousing performance of an original song composed by Ari Posner and executed by the National Arts Centre Orchestra.
‘It’s a style of animation that’s raw – it doesn’t feel commercial,’ says Doug Robinson, CD at Toronto-based Doug, of the work by Toronto shop 4stroke. ‘It has a warm and youthful appeal.’
The spot, by the Toronto-based advocacy group Coalition for Music Education in Canada (the Coalition), aims to raise awareness for the fourth annual Music Monday, which happens the first Monday of May each year. It entails hundreds of thousands of Canadian students, teachers and music lovers performing the same song at the same time, nationwide, to mark the importance of music education in schools.
This year’s event falls on May 5, and will also be observed in the U.S. for the first time. Doug has adapted the spot to feature a map of the states. The Music Monday concept was also picked up in Australia last year.
‘We’re having some impact beyond our borders,’ says Ingrid Whyte, executive director at the Coalition. ‘It’s elevating the arts on policy agendas.’
At press time, CBC Radio had signed on to run music-related programming throughout the day on Music Monday, and Disney Playhouse Channel is running the PSA during commercial breaks and as part of its Little Einstein programming.
advertiser: Ingrid Whyte
agency: Doug
CD: Doug Robinson
AD: Aaron Doyle
copywriter: Matt Beasant
business manager: Rachael Lerner
music production: Pirate
composer: Ari Posner
music producer: Chris Tait
production coordinator:
Megan Waychison
design and animation: 4stroke
You are cordially invited to submit your new, dead clever and previously unrevealed campaigns to editorial director Mary Maddever at mmaddever@brunico.com and CD Stephen Stanley at sstanley@brunico.com, co-curators of strategy’s Creative space.
