According to Donate Life California, 114.000 men, women and children in the US are currently waiting for an organ transplant. The “Second Chances” campaign is a reminder that a simple thing like being an organ donor can give so many other people a second chance to live. And for being an organ donor, you’ll deserve a second chance too: a part of the “Second Chances” initiative is that you’ll get another chance if a police officer pulls you over for minor traffic violations. And it doesn’t sound bad to get away with that, right?
Donate Life California’s campaign is created through a partnership with three McCann offices and the initiative is to let the police in California embrace the concept. Through the campaign’s efforts, three police departments in California agreed to let drivers off with a warning as long as the drivers could show a licence proving that they were registered organ donors. The campaign has shown its potential to spread even farther and it is taken up by the police in Calgary, Canada too.
Just one person can save eight lives, it appears from the campaign’s website, where Donate Life California requests people to become organ donors. “It’s a great way to promote positive interaction between law enforcement and the community,” Officer Frank Garza says in an interview. The website is asking police officers to inspire people in their community to register as organ donors and potentially save lives. Furthermore, Donate Life California has made a toolkit as a guide for implementing the programme for every police department that is interested in participating in “Second Chances.”
Organ donation has been a popular theme in recent years and has resulted in many creative approaches and campaigns. In 2016 for example, Donate Life introduced a campaign in collaboration with The Martin Agency. The campaign introduced us to “The World’s Biggest Asshole”, where an awful man ended up being a hero thanks to his organ donor registration. Another example is New York’s Montefiore Health System’s and the agency JohnXHannes’ film, “Corazón” that wanted to send a message about organ donation. The film project ended up winning a Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions in 2018 and a Grand Clio in Branded Entertainment.