Title | Making Merit or Creating Hurt |
Agency | Ogilvy Thailand |
Campaign | Making Merit or Creating Hurt |
Advertiser | Priest Hospital |
Brand | Priest Hospital |
Date of First Broadcast/Publication | 2019 |
Business Sector | Hospitals, Healthcare facilities & Medical Services |
Philosophy | “Making Merit or Creating Hurt” is a collaboration campaign between 2 non-profits, aims to raise awareness, and offer solutions for, the health and obesity crisis in the Thai Buddhist monkhood, unknowingly caused by incorrect food alms-giving practices. It promotes a healthier habit of food-giving to decrease the growing number of monks with chronic diseases. 95% of Thais are Buddhists and they are unaware of being the cause of the monk-hood’s health crisis: 70% of the 300,000 monks currently suffer from chronic diseases. This ‘obesity epidemic’ caused by the unhealthy alms-giving has rocketed the monks’ average BMI (Body Mass Index) from 18.0 to 41.6 within the past 10 years. This causes USD 30 million for the annual medical care. For over 2,500 years, giving food as alms is a daily ritual that the monks depend on to survive and a way for the Buddhists to connect with ancestors. Nowadays, the ancestors’ favourite dishes including unhealthily indulgent, high fat and sugar foods are given to monks, in the hopes that they would be enjoying them in the afterlife. Buddhist ecclesiastical law also stipulates that monks cannot refuse the food, and, because of their revered status, exercise is considered unseemly. “Making Merit or Creating Hurt” is a thought-provoking experience, a collaboration between 2 non-profit organisations; the Buddhist Priest Hospital and the Baramee Dhamma Hall, a Buddhist learning center. The idea is curated by turning the medium that spiritually connects with the Buddhists, ‘the monk sculpture’ into media that raises awareness about the monkhood’s health issues caused by unhealthy food given as alms. Within 4 weeks during Thai New Year, the peak season for merit making, the scuplture transforms from an average-built, life-sized figure into a shockingly obese monk. It was strategically displayed outdoors at the hospital, learning center, temples and local markets, which are locations where the audience regularly visits, to provoke them at the moment of merit making. Mobile Location-Based technology is utilized to provide information about obesity and chronic diseases visually related to the sculpture and offer solutions of nutritious meals that will improve the health of monks. |
Media Type | Case Study |
Length | |
Consultant | Huachiew Chalermprakiet |
Head of Client Services | Chumni Jittreprasert |
Account Director | Naris Nimitmongkol |
Account Manager | Krittanut Naksomsong |
Account Manager | Chutapa Trikrutapan |
Business Director | Jintana Duangkaew |
Chief Creative Officer | Nopadol Srikieatikajohn |
Executive Creative Director | Wisit Lumsiricharoenchoke |
Creative Director | Puripong Limwanatipong |
Copywriter | Torpun Lersin |
Copywriter | Kris Garford Spindler |
Copywriter | Puripong Limwanatipong |
Copywriter | Pongsakon Junrueng |
Copywriter | Nichamon Kittisimanont |
Art Director | Nopadol Srikieatikajohn |
Art Director | Wisit Lumsiricharoenchoke |
Art Director | Vichapat Pitpreecha |
Art Director | Krittapob Kaewprom |
Art Director | Thanarat Seekeang |
Art Director | Thanawat Chongmahakul |
Project Manager | Suparrerk Kulintaraprasert |
Interactive Designer | Tarinya Katiwanich |
Producer | Natthanon Boriboon |
Editor | Nuttaphon Saengrompo |
Editor | Artchvit Vongvittayamatakul |
Audio & Visual | Nattawat Sritanyarat |
Audio & Visual | Wasinee Khongsupamanon |
General Manager | Noth Thongsriphong |
Producer | Tattapong Siripatvanich |
Retoucher | Artchvit Vongvittayamatakul |
Retoucher | Preeda Likhitthumakul |
Photography Studio | Bob Eye View Studio |
Photographer | Navaratana Donkort |
Photographer | Nopadol Ninratanabunpot |
Camera Assistant | Thanawin Phisankosakun |
Sound Design Company | Freq Lab |
Sound Designer | Narin Kongkatavaethita |
Associate Social Media Director | Prathana Phoolsawas |
Camera Assistant | Cholthicha Cherdchu |