Personal Videos Share Heartwarming Red Cross Message

With help from BBDO New York, the American Red Cross has launched a new "storytellers" ad campaign which consists of personal accounts filmed by real people affected by tragedy and how the Red Cross came to their aid. The stories are touching and eloquently capture experiences we all hope we never have to go through.

Of the campaign, Red Cross CMO Peggy Dyer said, "We wanted to tell the story of the Red Cross through the people we serve, while at the same time demonstrating the breadth of our mission. Many people know the organization for our work in major disaster relief or blood collection, and the goal for this storytelling campaign was to bring our everyday mission to life in a personally relevant way."

The Red Cross enlisted 300 storytellers - people helped by the organization's five lines of service - and gave them cameras and one task: tell their Red Cross stories.

The initial wave of Red Cross ads feature two New York families whose homes were destroyed by fire and a Washington family devastated by a flood. Future ads will include stories of a Virginia resident whose newborn twins were saved by a single blood donation; a Michigan teenager whose Red Cross CPR training helped him save a life; and an Oklahoma family who lost their home in a tornado.

You can view the campaign "trailer" below and the rest of the videos here.