SickKids Fights for Every Birthday in First Campaign from FCB Canada

To help celebrate The Hospital for Sick Children’s (SickKids) 150th birthday on April 3, SickKids Foundation has launched a new brand film, its first since partnering with FCB Canada. 

Entitled 'The Count.', it features a cast of more than 20 real SickKids patients and portrays an emotionally charged and visually complex tapestry that depicts the fight for every birthday for patients, families and hospital staff. It artfully weaves birthday imagery with athletic metaphors and surrealistic imagery alongside real life moments of children and their families.

“When talking about what SickKids is fighting for, especially in context of their 150th birthday, we thought there was a real clarity and tangibility to the idea that what SickKids and every patient is really fighting for is quite literally their next birthday,” said Jacob Pacey, associate creative director and copywriter, at FCB Canada. “Once you start thinking about it through that lens, it opens up a new way to think about their fight,” adds Brendan McMullen, associate creative director and art director.

Marking this pivotal point in SickKids history, the campaign is at once a doubling down on the long time ‘SickKids VS’ platform while marking a tonal evolution for the platform as the hospital enters a new era.

“Our 150th birthday presented a unique strategic and creative challenge for the brand. We wanted to celebrate SickKids incredible history but also needed a compelling motivator to get people to donate today,” said Roy Gruia, director, brand marketing at SickKids Foundation. “From the first meeting with FCB they reminded us and held us to task that this work had to lean into the VS fight, and that in order to motivate donations we had to focus on our current fight—a fight for more birthdays for our patients. They helped us to see we shouldn’t water down our own message by trying to do too many things. So, this work does not focus on accomplishments of the last 150 years but rather reflects the hospital’s core mission of the past, present and future, while our birthday acts as inspiration for the concept.”

“From the beginning we knew we wanted to put the fight back into VS but do it in a way that felt different from where it’s been. A new agency can often mean a new platform, but walking away from the equity of VS felt self-serving since we know that investing in a longer-term platform makes it more effective. We believe that equity will make the difference in getting more kids to more birthdays,” said Nancy Crimi-Lamanna, chief creative officer at FCB Canada.

With SickKids increasingly becoming an international brand, FCB Canada leveraged relationships across its global agency network to sign on top production partners to the project, most notably award-winning director Clément Durou from 'We Are From LA', UK-based editor Neil Smith, and new full-service creative content studio ARC, launched with former staff from The Mill. Music house Soundtree was also an early collaborator, bringing together teams from LA, New York, and London to compose the film’s powerful original score featuring audio recordings of SickKids patients themselves. Based on the strength of the story and the power of the SickKids brand, all partners generously donated significant amounts of time to the film, especially production partner MERCHANT who co-produced the film with US production company Iconoclast.

The film is supported by a fully integrated campaign across TV, OOH, social and digital platforms featuring photography from Matt Barnes and Westside Studio.

Help SickKids celebrate this historic milestone and consider giving the ultimate birthday gift of $150 to support SickKids. Your gift will help SickKids continue its legacy of cutting-edge care for generations to come.

FCB Canada was responsible for all strategy and creative, Cairns Oneil handled all media planning and buying, with Citizen Relations leading PR for the 150th Birthday campaign.