Purolator tackles hunger in new campaign

In the latest Purolator Tackle Hunger campaign, the stakes couldn’t be lower, and that’s the point.

Created by T&Pm Canada and brought to life by director Darcy Hennessey and Holiday Films under the HUG for Good initiative, the campaign flips the script on PSA-style storytelling. Instead of dramatising hunger, it shows us what kids should be worrying about: catching the bus in time, winning the football game, or building the perfect block tower.

In a series of quietly observed spots, we see a school bus pull away, a game end in near tears, a block tower crashing down. Each mini-meltdown is followed by a sobering reminder: Being a kid is hard. Being a hungry kid is harder. Backed up by the fact that one in three Canadians who rely on food banks are children. The final message lands with clarity and compassion. 

Hennessey’s direction strikes a careful balance, never overplaying the emotion, never tugging too hard. Each story is treated with a light, observational touch, capturing the small-but-big feelings that come with being a kid. These are simply honest, human moments: a girl slumping onto the grass in defeat, or a boy watching his school bus drive away. Edited by Saints Editorial’s Melanie Hider, the restraint in tone allows the insight to land even harder. 

Purolator Tackle Hunger is Purolator’s long-running, employee-led initiative, which has delivered more than 25 million pounds of food to Canadian food banks. This latest campaign adds emotional depth to the initiative, focusing not just on the issue of food insecurity, but on the kind of childhood it disrupts. 

With smart, insightful and sensitive creative from T&Pm led by CCO Krystle Mullin and ACD’s Kurtis Martin and Justin Turco, the campaign makes one thing clear: when we help tackle hunger, we help give kids their childhood back. 

The campaign is part of the HUG for Good initiative, an arm of Holiday Films and Holiday United Group that supports purpose-driven messaging with impact and integrity.