In a frustrated and fatigued world where COVID-19 raged and tensions ran high, the term “mask” took on new meaning. Masks became more than a face covering – they became a symbol of polarization, geographic belonging, political alignment. But that didn’t change the fact that fighting COVID-19 cannot be done in silos.

The American Hospital Association (AHA) knew that if we were to make strides in taming the pandemic, the public would have to act together – wear masks, together.

Compelling as it was to the medical community, AHA needed something stronger than the common good to disarm the conversation and motivate the public to wear masks. How could we ask communities to look after the world when the world hadn’t always looked after them and hasn’t always served up unbiased truths?

Disarming a catastrophe with a human touch

Masks needed to be brought down to a human level, speaking to the things we love, the things we miss, the things that make us feel whole. With so much news and noise about the pandemic flooding people’s ears and feeds, AHA’s message needed to be captivating and interesting. It also needed to appeal both globally and locally, allowing for cobranded distribution and use by their 5,000 hospitals to share in their local markets.

With this in mind, Revive created, “For the Life You Love,” a campaign that spoke to the seemingly-small, yet hugely-missed activities people used to enjoy without second thought. Birthday parties. Coffee with mom. Road trips with friends. These fully-human moments are what the public needed to see.

And how better to disarm mask-wearing than to create a positive mental association with these very activities we love? Revive created a halting visual aesthetic by folding masks into simple origami shapes, stitching together thousands of images of masks in various positions to create a stop-motion effect.

Live music – it’s worth fighting for

The reception of this video has been overwhelmingly positive. AHA members across the country have placed the video on their websites and social media platforms. Some health systems even aired it in their local markets through broadcast and streaming video.

The video had a nationwide reach, likely positively impacting consumers’ health and safety in 2020. The video won a Gold Addy in the video/film/TV category.