Lucky Generals and Co-op Funeralcare on Lifting Stigmas around Funeral Wishes

Research shows that people not talking about their funeral wishes makes the organisation of a funeral more stressful for their loved ones. In the new brand ad, Lucky Generals worked with Co-op Funeralcare to help them lift this stigma and normalise the conversation around funeral wishes. 

The work shows real people up and down the country having conversations about how they want their send-off to be. The campaign aims to help normalise this important conversation and encourage people to be open about their funeral wishes earlier in life.

From a window cleaner in Manchester who wants 'one big party', to a hiker with a hearing disability signing that she wants her poem to be read, the ad cuts between groups of people from across the nation talking about what they would like their funeral to be. 

The ad, which was directed by Charlotte Regan at Knucklehead, was filmed on location up and down the country in areas such as Cardiff, Port Talbot, London, Manchester, and Keswick in the Lake District with street casting finding people across the UK. Lucky Generals worked with The Diversity Standards Collective to ensure that the cast was representative of and authentic to minority communities across the UK. 

Q> Why is it important to normalise these conversations?

Mandip Mann> Funerals are incredibly hard moments for anyone to go through. But they can be particularly difficult for many because people don’t like to talk about their funeral wishes before they die, leaving their loved ones not knowing what they would have wanted.

There is still a big societal stigma attached to discussing funeral wishes. Our research has shown that a significant 66% of individuals have thought about their own funeral preferences, yet only a small 7% feel comfortable actually talking about them.

We believe that by normalising conversations about funeral wishes, we can help ease the burden on families when the inevitable happens. Death will touch each and every one of us, so it’s a conversation we should all be having.

Q> And how are you going to do this?

Mandip> With this campaign, we’re actively trying to lift the stigma around having conversations about death and funeral wishes earlier in life. It’s important for us to tackle such an important taboo head-on. 

We’re committed to helping people at every step of their bereavement journey, beyond the moments where people need to organise a funeral. Encouraging those conversations earlier in life ensures that when the time comes, bereaved families can honour their loved ones in the way they would have truly wanted.

We worked with Charlotte Regan, our wonderful director, to make sure that these conversations felt natural, heart warming and even humorous sometimes. We really wanted to break down the notion that this discussion has to be intimidating.  

Co-op has always been deeply rooted in local communities, with funeral homes on high streets across the country. We’re constantly looking for ways to make the bereavement journey easier for people in the communities that we care about.

Q> How did you work with the DSC and what did they bring to the campaign? 

Mandip> The creative was reviewed at an early, mid and later stage by a panel made up of people from diverse communities who provided insight and perspective on the work.

With this ad we really wanted to make sure we were authentic and not tokenistic in our representation of different communities. For instance, we didn’t want people with disabilities to be misrepresented or senior people to be portrayed as if they’re not enjoying life anymore when they truly engage in many traditionally seen as youthful activities like dancing and playing with friends.

Their input guided us in making sure that we were including a range of communities, some of which are often unrepresented in advertising. It also shaped our approach during script development and filming to make sure that the wishes were being discussed in settings that felt natural and true to the individuals we were working with.

Q> Why did you want to work on this production? 

Charlotte Regan> I really liked the approach the team wanted to take on making these conversations the norm. I also loved the style they wanted to do that in. Keeping it really honest and casting/shooting in a way that really let people just exist within their own spaces.

Q> What did you want to bring to the ad?

Charlotte> I wanted to add to what the creatives had already built. The casting felt like the most important aspect, and luckily we had an incredible casting director in Anna McAuley. Once we found brilliant people, it was just about creating a space that made them feel comfortable. 

Q> And what did you want people to take out from it? 

Charlotte> I'd love for these conversations to become the norm. The conversations we were able to capture on shoot were the kind of conversations I wish some of my loved ones would’ve had with me before they died. They're so important and I hope work like this helps to encourage the nation to talk more openly about this important topic.