Many gun owners keep loaded, unlocked guns at home. For protection, they say. But suicide is by far the main cause of gun deaths. On average, 63 Americans die by gun suicide each day, almost 2x the homicide rate.

How do you convince gun owners that suicide is the real danger?

We made a film that looks like a first-person shooter game, but with a gutting twist. We used the style of a first-person shooter to put them in that mind state. Then we flipped the script. Because they’re actually watching a man try to reach a loved one who has gotten access to his gun. The film was built in Unreal Engine, the same platform used by many premier video game titles.

Print and OOH gave real meaning to the stats. And in radio, we gave a voice to those who had lost someone to gun suicide.

This was a national campaign focused on a uniquely American problem. Five months after launch — with no paid media — we’ve achieved over 179 million impressions. And 70% of people aware of the campaign agree that storing ALL guns reduces the risk of death by gun suicide, while 51% talked to friends and family to encourage safe gun storage. Thus increasing the risk perception of gun suicide in the home and the belief that proper gun storage can prevent gun suicide.

And we received a flood of positive feedback, including a letter from one mother who said our work motivated her to go and buy a gun safe that very day. Two days later, her teenager tried to kill himself but was thwarted by the gun safe. He is now in treatment and out of immediate danger.