Tv Drive To Encourage Donors
Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday June 3, 1992
The Kidney Foundation of Australia has decided shock is the best strategy in its latest effort to increase community awareness of the pressing need for organ donors.
It hopes a new television commercial to be launched tomorrow night will jolt the collective public consciousness and encourage families to start talking about a subject still considered taboo in most households. The ad, created by advertising and design shop Hulsbosch Pty Ltd, opens with the image of a young male corpse - "Larry" - in a coffin.
Its message focuses on the need for open discussion between family members about individual choice regarding organ donation, and aims to encourage consideration of the issue at a young age.
According to Hulsbosch managing director Mr Hans Hulsbosch, the ad was designed to "jolt people into thinking about the issue and to get death and organ donation out of the closet". The Federation of Australian Commercial Television Stations (FACTS) has given the 45-second TV ad a PGR classification which means it can only be screened after 7.30 pm.
Hulsbosch says the decision was disappointing but he is hopeful the networks will agree to provide free, or at least heavily discounted, air time in ensuing weeks to allow the ad to reach a wider audience.
The agency donated its time free of charge and the ad was produced at cost. Created around the theme "Give and Let Live - Decide to be a donor and tell your family", the ads will be followed by an educational campaign including leaflets and school information kits.
Australia has one of the lowest organ donor rates in the developed world, but an alarmingly high number of people - at least 3,000 - awaiting organ and tissue transplants. According to the Australian Co-ordinating Committee on Organ Registries and Donation (ACCORD), Australia produces only 209 organ donors a year. Of the 120,000 people who die each year, only one in 600 is likely to become a donor.
Amazingly, in Australia there is no national register of consenting organ donors. Donor cards often become irrelevant because next of kin must also provide their consent to organ transfer at the time of death.
Full-page teaser ads will appear in national newspapers tomorrow - National Organ Donation Awareness Day.
© 1992 Sydney Morning Herald