David&Goliath build a wall for immigration rights project

“The Wall” gives children and adults the tools they need to navigate a complex immigration system.

Ahhhh, let’s talk about Trump’s border wall. You know – the one that should really be dubbed, “Trump’s Folly?”

No, Im not hiding my disdain for his great big wonderful wall. We have all heard about it.

Correction, we adults have all heard about it and depending on whether your color scheme is red or blue probably determines how you feel about it.

But what about the kids? You know the whole “children are our future” generation? How do they feel about this obstruction to humanity?

LA-based agency David&Goliath probably has a pretty good idea as they have just completed a new thought-provoking pro-bono campaign for Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project, also based in Los Angeles.

Esperanza is a public interest legal organization with a mission to build better lives for some of the most vulnerable immigrants in the Los Angeles area.

They accomplish this by teaching, defending, and empowering children and adults by giving them the tools they need to navigate the complex immigration system.

In October of 2017, the agency called in a group of diverse kids to participate in a focus group. The moderator revealed a brand-new toy called “The Wall,” asking for their honest feedback.

As you can see below, their answers were pretty honest indeed:

Yeah (said in my best Peter Griffin voice) even kids can tell a bad idea when they see one.

According to an agency spokeswoman, these are just a few of the negative (non-scripted) reactions from real kids featured in this video as part of a new campaign to raise awareness of immigrant rights and to help stop the wall’s construction.

Can you blame them for not being impressed? Instead of building a wall that separates people, they make it very clear the things that they would like to build – houses, parks and rocket ships. Because even kids can see that there are better things to build than a wall.

“Given the current political climate—especially surrounding immigration rights and the building of Trump’s multi-billion-dollar wall—we wanted to create a campaign that would address the issue in a way that would make an impact, be authentic and evoke an emotional response,” said Courtney Pulver, Creative Director. She added, “There’s a genuine truth that comes from children. They don’t sugarcoat things, and they often don’t have a filter. We thought that giving kids an opportunity to voice their honest feelings about a toy called ‘The Wall’ would help illustrate how even kids know a bad idea when they see one. There are better things to build than a wall.”

Helmed by director Jordan Bahat, the video deftly and naturally taps into the perspective of children. Seeing their honest reactions is a powerful tool to show that a wall will only be another thing standing between them and a better future.

In the coming weeks, Trump will be choosing the prototype for his border wall, which is estimated to cost billions of dollars. Immigrants need help now more than ever. But in order to stop the wall from being built, this can’t be a Republican vs. Democrat conversation. It needs to be a human conversation – because immigrant rights are human rights.

“Now more than ever, the topic of immigrant rights and immigration at large is the center of this great nation’s conversation. We wanted to enter this conversation as a leader as we deal with immigrants’ rights every day, especially with it changing drastically under this new administration,” said Evelyn Cedeño-Naik, Immigration Court Help-Desk (ICH) Managing Attorney, Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project. She explained, “‘The Wall’ just happens to be the most widely known topic relating to immigration rights. As a non-profit in this space, we have a unique opportunity to be on the front lines and see first-hand what’s happening to these people — children, mothers, fathers, husbands and wives — as a result of their rights being reversed. It’s heartbreaking. When David&Goliath shared this concept with us, we knew the power it would hold in getting people’s attention and get them to engage in a meaningful way.”

So, to sum it all up. Really bad idea – the wall. Really great video that is powerful, engaging and actually gives me hope! And that’s what makes it RAW for this week.

CREDITS
   Agency: David&Goliath
   Founder & Chairman: David Angelo
   Chief Creative Officer: Bobby Pearce
   Executive Creative Director: Ben Purcell
   Creative Directors/Art Directors: Robert Casillas, Fernando Reis
   Creative Directors/Copywriters: Courtney Pulver, Marcelo Padoca
   Sr. Interactive Art Director: Matt Koulermos
   Group Account Director: Michele Tebbe
   Director of Broadcast Production: Paul Albanese
   Director of Digital Production: Peter Bassett
   Sr. Broadcast Producer: Brandon Kusher
   Broadcast Producer: Marisa Bursteen
   Director Business Affairs: Rodney Pizarro
   Business Affairs Manager: Yenia Paez
   Digital Analytics Manager: Shaun Jacobs
   Social Media Strategist: Noelle Suarez

Music by Nick Sena

Contact Colin Costello at colin@reelchicago.com or follow him on Twitter @colincostello10.