By Christine Champagne
Fast Company
LONDON — Viewers who tuned into this past Sunday’s episode of Downton Abbey in the U.K. saw the premiere of a rather startling advertisement for St John Ambulance, a London-based organization that teaches people how to perform first aid. (Watch the spot before reading further — there’s a twist).
Created by agency BBH London and directed by Benito Montorio of Blink Productions, the spot, which is the centerpiece of a new Helpless-themed campaign, begins on a grim note, with a man visiting a doctor who informs him that he has cancer. We observe as the man shares the devastating diagnosis with his wife, and then the battle against the disease commences.
It feels like we are watching a documentary as the scenes continue to unfold. In anticipation of his hair falling out, the man’s wife shaves his head, and he undergoes chemotherapy. The treatment is hard on the patient, and he gets sicker and weaker as the days pass. Still, he soldiers on, supported by his wife and his young daughter, and he ultimately beats the cancer and regains his health…only to die after choking on a piece of meat at a barbecue.
Full story: St. John Ambulance Ad Demonstrates Life’s Less Pleasant Surprises