send+receive Launches Emotive New Ads for The Afghan Women’s Organization

The refugee crisis has touched many corners of the globe and Canada is no exception. The country has become a safe haven for newcomers looking to rebuild their lives while preserving their identity and culture.

The Afghan Women’s Organization (AWO) is on the front lines of this important settlement work, helping more than 100 landed immigrations and refugees per month. 

To further build awareness around the Mississauga-based non-profit’s wide range of services, Toronto creative agency send+receive has created a series of TV commercials.

Produced by Someplace Nice and directed by Sean McBride, the 15-second spots “Wellness Café”, “Job Skills” and “Literacy” showcase different facets of AWO’s services using simple yet powerful imagery of Afghan women supporting newly arrived Canadians.

The ads are shot in a single take and uses staging inspired by live theatre to show community-based solutions to challenges faced by newly arrived refugees.

Each spot features a character sitting alone in a room – an older woman, a seven-year-old boy and his mother and a young woman – grappling with a problem when a group of Afghan women arrive and transform the space into a welcoming and nurturing environment. They began airing on April 1st, 2017 and will broadcast through December 31st, 2017.

“We wanted to show how transformative the work this group does in a simple way,” said JP Gravina, Partner, Creative, Send + Receive. “The spots express how the hands-on work the women in the organisation really do change lives.” 

“These spots are simple and elegant ways of describing the real effect that community and contact can have on newcomers to Canada,” added McBride. “It’s a very timely message.”