Organ Donors Save Lives in New Campaign from Publicis New York

A new awareness campaign from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), in partnership with Publicis New York, explores the emotionally charged connection between an organ donor and recipient. The agency’s creative team drew inspiration from real transplantation stories, from completing donors’ bucket lists to listening to the beat of a donated heart. The video for the campaign, “Josh’s List,” directly ties to some of the true-life relationships that inspired the film. This is the first PSA for UNOS in the past 20 years.

In the 16 days since being launched, “Josh’s List” has reached 9 million views, 44,000+ Likes and 165,000+ Facebook shares to date, and generated hundreds of stories of real lives touched by organ donation in the 1,600+ Facebook comments. In addition to an online presence, the spot was distributed to 1,600 TV stations in the U.S.

The project started as a simple idea and a cold call to UNOS from director, cinematographer and writer Damien Toogood, and grew to include many collaborators, including Publicis New York and the rock band Metric. Production also weaved in those personally touched by organ donation, including an extra who accepted a double lung transplant.