Arosali Brings Michael Floersheim's Emotional Holocaust Story to Life

While developing a campaign for Spielzeux, Ogilvy came across the original Arosali from 1942 in an exhibition in the Netherlands. The story of Michael Floersheim and his teddybear Arosali touched the agency so deeply that they bring their story to life. Based on Michael's experiences, Ogilvy created the storytelling campaign: Arosali –  Bear of Hope in order to demonstrate the power of toys through thick and thin. 

The story of Michael and Arosali demonstrates that you can reach your hopes and dreams if you fight for it and be strong - but also shows that you always need support and that that's nothing to be ashamed of. In the case of Michael, he took the strength and encouragement from his teddy bear Arosali, who helped him survive two concentration camps. With the pro bono project Arosali - the Bear of Hope, we want to highlight the central role of toys for children and their development.

In addition to raising donations for Kinderträume e.V. (an organization dedicated to fulfilling the last wishes of chronically ill children), Ogilvy want to transport this moving story to a new generation of parents and children. Through a successful social media campaign launched in the end of January (#Arosali), we have been able to raise awareness of our cause across hundreds of thousands of people. In response to this achievement, Serdar Kantekin, Creative Director, states, "Our social media campaign asks people to share a picture of themselves with their special stuffed animal friend using the hashtag #Arosali to raise awareness for the project and spread the cause to their friends and followers. To date, all Instagram posts have garnered over 45.000 likes and have achieved a total reach of over 730.000. That makes us very happy."