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Creative in association withGear Seven
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David Beckham Speaks Nine Languages for Malaria No More UK Thanks to AI

09/04/2019
Advertising Agency
London, UK
298
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R/GA London, RSA Amsterdam, Synthesia and Denstu Aegis Network collaborate on phase two of ‘Malaria Must Die, So Millions Can Live’ campaign
Leading non-profit organisation Malaria No More UK has partnered with R/GA London, RSA Amsterdam, London tech company Synthesia, and Dentsu Aegis Network on the launch of phase two of the global campaign Malaria Must Die, So Millions Can Live. Using emerging AI video synthesis technology, the campaign taps into the cultural zeitgeist to deliver non-conventional creative to inspire support to end malaria from public and political leaders in regions of the world past and present affected by the deadly, preventable disease.

Creatively concepted and led by R/GA London, the resulting campaign - featuring David Beckham - is themed on the power of a voice, harnessing the upward trend of voice technology in everyday life. The call to action is a 30-second ask to participate in the world’s first Voice Petition to end malaria.

This aims to deliver a sense of public mandate for urgent political action at the critical Global Fund replenishment meeting in October this year. It follows the successful launch of the campaign in February 2018 in the run up to the London Malaria Summit, that was held during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in April 2018. The campaign and Malaria Summit helped achieve commitments worth over $4.1 billion to fight malaria and led to a historic CHOGM commitment to halve malaria across the Commonwealth by 2023 by 53 world leaders.

Kate Wills, director of partnerships and communications at Malaria No More UK, says: “We deliberately sought R/GA as our creative partner as their ability to deliver transformational marketing can help us shake up and reframe public and political perceptions of this global killer. This phase of the campaign is critical to ensure we get ahead in the global fight”.

The Voice Petition is being launched through a 55-second film produced by a world class pro bono team convened by charity Malaria No More UK, the organisation behind Malaria Must Die: RSA Amsterdam with director Juriaan Booij in partnership with R/GA, London based Technology Company Synthesia and Dentsu Aegis Network.



“Malaria is the world’s oldest disease, still a child dies every two minutes from it. Yet people are still deaf to this message. So with this campaign, we wanted to combine our innovative approach to communications, design and technology to get malaria firmly back on the agenda," said Matt Lodder, EVP managing director of R/GA EMEA. “It’s our responsibility as professionals working in the creative industry, to make people sit up and listen, which is why we harnessed the power of voice as the medium in this work.”

In the short film, David appears to speak nine languages as he invites people to add their voices to help end one of the world’s oldest and deadliest diseases. But the voices are not all his own. Instead, using emerging AI video synthesis technology, we hear David speaking the voices of men and women from around the world, including malaria survivors and doctors fighting the disease.



Through David, we hear nine global languages spoken and the voices of eight others, including Dr Elvis Eze, Marie Murorunkwere, Hussein Omar and Jean Bosco Niyonzima, who have survived malaria and are using their stories to help raise awareness about malaria’s devastating effects.

Each language and voice represent a part of the world affected by malaria, past or present; from the UK, which was historically affected my malaria, to China, a country on the brink of elimination, to Nigeria, where the malaria toll is the heaviest with close to 300 lives lost every day, mainly young children. 

The ‘Malaria Must Die’ campaign is designed to amplify the voices of those affected by malaria and gives everyone the opportunity to speak out. Each voice collected via the petition will contribute to a unique piece of audio art known as a sound sculpture, grabbing the attention of leaders in a unique and memorable way. It will be delivered to world leaders ahead of critical funding decisions for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in six months’ time.

David Beckham is a founding member of Malaria No More UK Leadership Council and a committed champion in the fight against malaria with over a decade of support for Malaria No More UK. In his long-term role as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador he has seen the impact of malaria on people’s lives in countries such as Sierra Leone. 

David says: “I have been working with ‘Malaria No More UK for over 10 years and to be a part of this campaign and to help share some of the real stories behind malaria is really important to me. Dr Elvis Eze who was with us on set has suffered with malaria many times and as a doctor, he has seen how dangerous this disease can be. For me, it was so important to learn how he is using his experiences to raise awareness of malaria with young people in the UK and abroad. It’s unacceptable that malaria still kills a child every two minutes so please add your voice to the petition.”

Add your voice to the Voice Petition at www.malariamustdie.com
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