Every parent’s nightmare

There’s nothing more terrifying than having kids. Of course, it can be fun, they pass the time and are often cute. But the worry; the worry is insane. 

Will they thrive or fail? Will they be happy or fall into bad ways? But mainly, will they be safe? And what kind of world are we leaving them?  

This clever campaign, Make it Happen, from Amsterdam-based creative agency Soursop and production company HALAL places the climate emergency as a children’s emergency and, launched to coincide with COP26, asks world leaders to take action. 

Feature film director Thessa Meijer, who specialises in psychological horror, created two films, one tapping into parents’ fears of how water shortages will affect their children, and, the most potent film depicts a polluted world in which a mother is haunted by nightmares of her child gasping for air, too breathless to blow out a birthday cake decorated with burning trees instead of candles. 

“I don’t want my mumma, or me, to be scared for our futures,” says the girl, as she strokes her troubled mother’s forehead.

The thought-provoking campaign marks a notable shift for UNICEF, as its communications normally tend toward documentary and reportage on climate issues.