This Canadian Foundation Took Viewers on an Animated Journey to Spotlight a Diagnosis from a Child’s Perspective
For most of us, hearing a serious medical diagnosis is a scary thing. Be it yours or someone else’s, the knowledge that everything is about to change can be, to put it lightly, overwhelming.
Of course, there are always the exceptions – the ones who don’t panic upon the news breaking. And specifically, if you think of children, they’d be the bulk of this demographic. Consider this. If an eight-year-old hears a grave medical diagnosis, their lack of worldly experience might mean that the severity of the situation is lost on them. There’s this beautiful naivety where even though all the grown-ups in their life are terrified, the kid is OK, still assuming everything will be alright.
This is exactly what the CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation captured in its recent spot, ‘The Orange’. Telling the true story of a girl named Juliette who was diagnosed with a brain tumour – an orange in her head – as a child, the three-minute film uses animation, a striking, original soundtrack, and powerful writing to not only showcase her journey with the hospital that led to her recovery, but the way in which this impacted those around her – namely her grandmother.
Serving to headline the Foundation’s new brand platform, ‘Grow Beyond’, it seems fitting that this unconventional yet emotional campaign breaks the boundaries of traditional advertising, while in the process reminding viewers that truly, their charitable contributions can make the difference.
To learn more about just what it took to bring this to life, LBB’s Jordan Won Neufeldt sat down with LG2’s partner and copywriter, Guillaume Bergeron, art director Mario Pesant, and CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation’s vice president, communications and marketing, Emmanuelle Ouimet, to learn more.
LBB> Launching a new public awareness platform is no small task. As such, what was the brief, and what immediate ideas came to mind?
Emmanuelle> The brief was: a bold, child-centred campaign designed to inspire and mobilise the people of Quebec around the idea of transforming the future of their children. The primary target was Quebec’s general public, with communications tailored to both French and English-speaking audiences. Additional adaptations will be made to engage cultural communities, with messaging variations under the themes ‘Grow Beyond’ and ‘Voir Grand’ (for the French market).
Guillaume> Adding to this, the brief was to support and spread awareness for the biggest philanthropic campaign for children in Quebec's history. We all need to go beyond today’s limits if we are to achieve our ambitious goals, but we also need to focus on growth like the little ones who are fighting against diseases day after day. So, quite naturally, the ‘Grow Beyond’ theme emerged.
LBB> Speaking of the tagline, ‘Grow Beyond’, how did you come up with this, and what does it represent to you?
Emmanuelle> At the Foundation, we find our inspiration in children’s limitless dreams. They create worlds filled with larger-than-life characters and flowers that reach the sky. Teens dream big, act boldly, and make over-the-top their norm. Youths’ pure hearts and curious minds know no bounds. Like them, the CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation sees beyond the impossible to redefine what’s possible. That is what ‘Grow Beyond’ represents for us.
LBB> Creatively speaking, centering the work around true stories is a very powerful technique! What made this the right approach for the job, and something you wanted to do?
Emmanuelle> As a children’s hospital, centring our work around true stories is key to building a genuine emotional connection with our audience. These authentic stories of real children and families facing health challenges reflect the values of compassion and hope that drive our mission. By sharing their experiences, we raise awareness and inspire action, showing the tangible impact of support. This approach fosters trust, engages our community, and keeps our work deeply rooted in the real lives of the children we help.
Mario> We also wanted to demonstrate that the medical revolution is not a fantasy, but something real that is happening within the walls of CHU Sainte-Justine. Using real cases helped us to make this more tangible. Plus, donors always like it when they can see concrete examples of how their donations are being put to good use.
LBB> Building on this, what should more Canadians know about your organisation? How can they help support the work you’re doing?
Emmanuelle> More than ever, growing beyond for every child in a targeted way makes it possible to prevent and predict the onset of illnesses that could limit their immediate and future development. Acting early, often in the mother’s womb, means preventing the onset of more serious forms of disease. It has a transformative effect on the entire life trajectory of a child and his or her family. There’s not a minute to lose to keep up with the best in paediatrics.
Our ambitions are to:
- Develop new preventive and therapeutic approaches by tapping into the immense potential of precision health.
- Share CHU Sainte-Justine’s expertise beyond its walls for the benefit of all children and families in Quebec and beyond.
- Transform patient care services and environments as part of a sustainable approach to healthcare.
- Innovate by continually championing patient-centred care.
Canadians can join us by donating at https://www.fondationstejustine.org/en/.
LBB> Of course, we can’t go without talking about ‘The Orange’. What made this particular story the one you wanted to build around? And what was the writing process like?
Guillaume> We were quickly charmed by the orange-in-the-head metaphor. It's visually and verbally beautiful. It's as if an illness becomes poetry when seen through the eyes of a child.
The metaphor was a powerful one, but the whole script made sense when we wrote the call between the grandmother and her granddaughter. Thanks to this call, viewers quickly become attached to the characters, and just as quickly understand the tone and naivety through which the children view serious disease.
LBB> The decision to centre around the child’s point of view - capturing her innocence, but also how what’s going affects the people around her, is really emotionally powerful. How did you ensure this all came through meaningfully?
Guillaume> It was really important to us to draw inspiration from real cases, and that the call between the grandmother and Juliette, even the animated scenes, be just as real. We didn't want to exaggerate anything so that viewers would believe in the story and become part of it, or perhaps even recognise themselves in it. This quest for realism led to the finale, in which we see the animated character give way to the real-life Juliette today, a true former brain tumour patient.
LBB> From there, how did you know you wanted to use animation as a medium? And what was the collaboration with Rodeo FX like?
Guillaume> Seeing the big picture through the eyes of children had always been a favourite theme from the outset. We liked to play on childrens’ naivety. When a sick child is told that they’re going to move mountains to cure her, she really imagines people moving mountains. It's beautiful and poignant to know that these brave little ones are fighting complex illnesses without yet fully understanding the extent of their situation. This led us to animation – especially as the story we wanted to tell wouldn't have had the same poetic quality if we'd seen a real orange in a real child's head.
Mario> Rodeo jumped in with both feet. The team was quickly charmed by the innocence of our story. The slightly childlike, minimalist style of illustration proposed by the designers and directors confirmed that they had the same vision as we did. And we shared that vision right to the end.
LBB> The voice acting also lands perfectly. How did this element come to life? And overall, do you have any anecdotes from the film creation process?
Mario> As we're telling Juliette's story at the time when she had her tumour, it was like stepping back in time. However, because our heroine's voice today is older than that of the character in the film, we had to cast new voices, for both the grandmother and the little girl.
Actors are super generous when it comes to giving back to foundations, so we had dozens of auditions. From there, we did a little in-house editing between a grandmother and a little girl. This montage followed us right up to the last day in the studio when the two actresses showed up to re-record the call. The plan had always been for them to come back to the studio, but after hearing the original auditions and focusing on the editing, we decided to keep it at about 90%. We barely changed any words; proof that the first take is sometimes the truest and purest.
LBB> Equally so, the transition to the real life footage at the end is super powerful. What was working with Juliette to bring this sequence to life like?
Mario> Juliette was super collaborative on set, as were her mother and grandmother. This trio of strong women was very happy to be able to give back in their own way to the CHU
Sainte-Justine Foundation. And it was great fun for Juliette to freely crush an orange (several, given the number of takes), symbolising the tumour she once had.
LBB> The original soundtrack by Circonflex is also really beautiful. What went into creating it?
Mario> ‘Si fragile’ (‘So Fragile’ in English) is one of the greatest songs in the Quebecois repertoire. This work by singer and songwriter Luc De Larochellière is often associated with illness, but also with bereavement. It's the song most often sung at funerals. But in our case, we liked the idea of having it sung by a child, because those much younger vocal chords give the song another meaning – fragility, yes, but above all else, hope.
LBB> The campaign is also supported by OOH and other assets. What did it take to bring these to life?
Mario> The first challenge for the print campaign was to share real cases that express the medical revolution happening at CHU Sainte-Justine, but in a simple and striking way that would suit the media. For this, the idea of sick children appropriating the powerful symbolism of the revolution by brandishing their fragile little arms seemed the best way to go.
The second challenge was to make the transition from models to reality, with the real arms of very (very) young children. The youngest was only 20 days old at the time of the shoot. Fortunately, the Gorditos team and photographer Raphaël Ouellet rose to the challenge with vigour and patience.
LBB> What challenges have you faced during this project? How did you overcome them?
Guillaume> Initially, ‘The Orange’ was to be broadcast exclusively on the web, so the length wasn't that important and we were heading for a video of more or less four minutes. Then, our media partner, Jungle, pulled off a major coup, securing nearly 30 three-minute TV opportunities! Unable to forego such an opportunity, it became imperative to reduce the story to its simplest form while preserving the sweetness, complexity and fragility of Juliette's story, which gives the video all its power.
Emmanuelle> Another challenge was finding the right patient story that not only fit our campaign’s concept, but resonated with a broad audience across Quebec. We needed a story that was mainstream enough to engage people from all walks of life – not just focusing on niche areas like neurosurgery or epilepsy.
We feel that we were able to identify a case that struck the perfect balance – it connected emotionally and was relatable to a diverse audience. The key was finding a story with protagonists that people could see themselves in, which helped ensure that the campaign would have widespread appeal.
LBB> What has the initial response been like?
Mario> ‘The Orange’ was broadcast in its entirety on television for the first time during the premiere of ‘Tout le monde en parle’, Quebec's most popular talk show (which airs every Sunday night).
Just before cutting to commercial, the host, Guy A. Lepage, surprised everyone by asking viewers not to leave their seats, listen to the commercial, and then go and get themselves a box of tissues! The response on social media was immediate and unanimous. The French-language video posted online was viewed over 2.7 million times in one week, without any media dollars behind it. That kind of 100% organic reach in a market like Quebec is truly special.
But if we want to get back to the real initial reaction, we have to go back to the first presentation of the campaign to our partners at the CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation. At the first script reading, tears were shed in the room. That moment confirmed to us that we were onto something powerful.
Emmanuelle> The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive across Quebec. The story resonates with many people, whether they’ve got personal experience at CHU Sainte-Justine or not. We believe that people truly understand the importance of having access to the hospital’s world-class expertise, knowing that should they ever need its care, CHU Sainte-Justine and its teams will be there for them.
LBB> Finally, is there an element of the campaign you’re most proud of?
Mario> What makes us most proud is that this campaign has had a real and immediate impact on the donations received by the CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation. Knowing that the lives of many children depend directly on philanthropy (the cutting-edge technology used to operate on Juliette was acquired exclusively through philanthropy), we can for once say that advertising humbly contributes to saving lives.
Emmanuelle> The high level of collaboration between our creative, media and PR partners was key to ensuring that our campaign resonated deeply with the target audience, and is something I’m proud of. We worked closely with the teams to align messaging and visuals, which allowed us to craft a cohesive story across different platforms. This synergy led to an increase in engagement, not just in impressions but in meaningful interactions that drove our message home.
What I’m most proud of, however, is how this collaboration helped us break through the noise in a competitive media landscape. We didn't just deliver a campaign; we created a movement that captured attention and inspired action.
