TBWA London and Rays of Sunshine Battle Blue Monday With #ComplimentaryOranges

January 16th is known as ‘Blue Monday’ and is officially the saddest day of year. With the joys of Christmas behind us and New Year nothing more than a fading memory, we find ourselves in the depths of winter with nothing to look forward to but work.

For seriously ill children these blues aren’t consigned to just one day. They can be all year round.

That’s where Rays of Sunshine come in. A UK charity who grant wishes to seriously ill children when they need it most, Rays of Sunshine bring light into their lives by making their wishes come true. And on Blue Monday, they want to extend this goodwill to the British public at large.

What is #complimentaryorange?

Orange. The colour of sunshine, the complementary colour to blue and a symbol of love. On Monday, lucky commuters, office workers, celebrities and shoppers in retailers around the country will be presented with a beautifully wrapped, juicy orange and a compliment.

Anyone can get involved via the social campaign #ComplimentaryOrange and - most importantly – everyone is encouraged to pass on the goodwill. Rays of Sunshine want as many people as possible to write their pleasantries on an orange and give it to someone else this Monday. It is the perfect antidote to the Blue Monday blues.

A kit containing all essential information can be accessed via the campaign website.

Finally, the work of Rays of Sunshine will go on all year around and if people are feeling particularly generous, they can donate £3 to Rays of Sunshine by texting ‘RAYS17 £3’ to 70070

Other activity to support the campaign includes:

- Complimentary oranges at major London tube stations

- Celebrity ambassadors of Rays of Sunshine tweeting their support

- Store partners offering complimentary oranges, free with a tweet or a text

- Orange deliveries to offices around London

- Fruit retailers encouraging people to buy oranges to share via campaign signs in-sore. 

Theo Coyne, Fundraising Campaign Manager from Rays of Sunshine: “As much as we collectively feel a bit blue on Monday this week, we think the best way to help yourself feel better is to do something for someone else. So we’re asking the public to pay it forward by giving a complimentary orange to a friend and a text donation to Rays to help grant children wishes and bring sunshine into their lives”. Ant Jackson and Zish Alexander, the TBWA creative team behind the campaign:

“Having worked with Rays of Sunshine for some years, we know that the level of fundraising they receive determines the number of wishes they can grant to seriously ill children. Blue Monday is the most depressing day of the year and we wanted to offer a little joy and some perspective, by creating a domino effect of giving. By brightening up Britain’s January Blues, we can hope to brighten up the lives of more children.”