A rapid increase in pre-natal screening for Down syndrome, along with near universal termination rates, means the population is declining. To the extent that it’s predicted to be extinct in Iceland by 2091.

Considered a medical achievement by some, this quiet revolution is having a devastating impact on the community. Because as the population shrinks, so do the resources they desperately need. The Canadian Down Syndrome Society’s goal was to make this silent crisis impossible to ignore any longer.

Credits
Agency Network: FCB
Advertiser Brand: Canadian Down Syndrome Society
Entrant Company: FCB
Post Production Company: Saints Editorial
Production Company (additional): The Vanity
Music/Sound Company: Silent Joe
Public Relations Agency: Glossy
Chief Creative Officer: Jeff Hilts
Chief Creative Officer: Nancy Crimi-Lamanna
Group Creative Director: Andrew MacPhee
Sr. Art Director: Michael Morelli
Sr. Copywriter: Marty Hoefkes
Art Director: Cody Sabatine
Copywriter: Joseph Vernuccio
VP Managing Director: Tracy Little
Managing Director: Tim Welsh
Group Account Director: Ravi Singh
Account Supervisor: Olivia Selbie
Account Executive: Alex Kreinces
Agency Producer: Katherine Forester
Director of Project Management: Shandi Horovitch
Project Manager: Elizabeth Lane
Chief Strategy Officer: Shelley Brown
Planning Director: Eryn LeMesurier
Research: Paul Gareau
Researcher: Kantar Millward Brown
Public Relations: Shannon Stephaniuk
Director: Scott Drucker
Producer: Katherine Forester
Line Producer: Sarah Kravetz
Photographer: Scott Drucker
Photographer: Chet Tilokani
Camera Operator: Scott Drucker
Camera Operator: Chet Tilokani
Editor: Michael Ofori-Attah
Editor: Jason Grebski
Colourist: Andrew Exworth
Music Track Director: Jody Colero
Engineer: John Hurlbut
composer: Benjamin Pinkerton
Animator: Michael Medeiros
Costume Design: Nikola Milic
Costume Design: Lea Krpan

Tags:
Endangered Syndrome, Digital campaign, Canadian Down Syndrome Society, Awareness Campaign

The future is voice-first, but not for everyone. Because of unique speech patterns, voice technology doesn’t always understand people with Down Syndrome. Project Understood is ensuring the future of voice technology includes people with Down Syndrome. The Canadian Down Syndrome Society is working with Google to collect voice samples from the adult Down Syndrome community to create a database that can help train Google’s technology to understand people with Down Syndrome better. The more voice samples we have, the more likely Google will be able to improve speech recognition for everyone eventually.

The Technology
Voice interfaces have now been sold in millions of products ranging from smartphones to vehicles, to home devices. These systems offer endless possibilities for enhanced living. But as it currently stands, the technology is not optimized for use by people who would benefit from it the most: people with disabilities. Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) can greatly improve the ability of those with speech impairments to interact with everyday smart devices and facilitate more independent living. However, these systems have predominantly been trained in ‘typical speech.’ But not all human speech is the same.

The unique speech patterns of people with Down Syndrome make it difficult for voice technologies to understand them. This is due to a massive lack of training data. The Canadian Down Syndrome Society, along with Google’s Project Euphonia are setting out to make speech technology more accessible to those with disabilities by recording the voices of thousands of participants with Down Syndrome to help train and improve its technology.

By reading and recording simple phrases, we can help Google recognize your unique speech patterns to improve Google’s system. Your voice recordings will be used for research, and to ultimately improve the accuracy of speech recognition for people with Down Syndrome. With your help, we can create a world where people with Down Syndrome are better understood. visit https://projectunderstood.ca/

Credits
Advertising Agency: FCB, Canada
Chief Creative Officer: Nancy Crimi-Lamanna & Jeff Hilts
President: Bryan Kane
Associate Creative Director: Elma Karabegovic
Associate Creative Director: Michael Morelli
Associate Creative Director: Marty Hoefkes
Copywriter: Shannon McCarroll
Copywriter: Jason Soy
VP, Managing Director: Tracy Little
Group Account Director: Blake Connolly
Account Supervisor: Olivia Selbie
Agency Producer/s: Sarah Michener/Kristine Lippett
VP of Operations: Shandi Horovitch
Project Manager: Cori Pettit
Chief Strategy Officer: Shelley Brown
Director of Strategy: Eryn LeMesurier
Director of Strategy: Shelagh Hartford
Strategy Coordinator: Audrey Zink
Director, Product and Technology Solutions: John Sime
EVP, Head of Global Innovation: Kris Hoet
PR: Shannon Stephaniuk, Glossy
Production Company: Radar
Director: Scott Drucker
Line Producer: Sarah Michener
Director of Photography: Scott Drucker & Chet Tilokani
Camera Operator: Scott Drucker & Chet Tilokani
Audio: Nicolas Field
Hair & Make-Up: Neil Silverman
Photographer: Cassidy Clemmer
Editing House: Outsider Editorial
Editor: John Gallagher/Michael Barker
Editorial Assistant: Scott Edwards
Executive Producer: Kristina Anzlinger
Transfer Facility: Alter Ego
Colourist: Eric Whipp
Online Facility: Alter Ego
VFX Artist: Eric Perrella
Alter Ego Producer: Caitlin Schooley-Groneveldt
Music House: Grayson Matthews
Music Track Director: Mark Dominic
Engineer: Vlad Nikolic
Audio Producer: Kelly McCluskey
Speech Pathologist: Amanda Cotton
Website design: Kris Van Wallendael, Julie Post, Dao Tran / Bliss Interactive

Tags:
Donate Your Voice, Canada, Public Interest, NGO, Canadian Down Syndrome Society, FCB, Google AI, Project Understood, Technology, Artificial intelligence, Machine learning, Innovation, Automatic Speech Recognition, Google Assistant

Key highlights of this ad campaign:

1. The videos talk about how people with the Down syndrome can lead normal lives and do everything from riding bikes, play sports, cook, read, drive … basically, do everything that a normal person can do in his / her day-to-day life, though it might take them a tad bit longer to learn and practice them.

2. This Canadian ad campaign stands out for its philanthropic gesture of helping all those parents who have been told that their unborn child is afflicted with this genetic abnormality.

3. These videos, even for the general audience at large, are worth more than a few minutes it will take to browse through them due to their extremely informative and heart-rending views.

What is Down syndrome?

Who gets Down syndrome?

Which parent does Down syndrome come from?

When do babies with Down syndrome learn to talk?

How long does a person with Down syndrome lives?

Can people with Down syndrome have a baby?

Can a person with Down syndrome ride a bike?

Can a person with Down syndrome make their own meals?

Can a person with Down syndrome learn to read?

Can a person with Down syndrome have a job?

Are babies with Down syndrome bigger?

What stands out?

It is a really touching compilation of videos in the form of an ad campaign that comes straight from the horse’s mouth, in this case, the people who are living this syndrome every single day and is without a doubt, one of the best Digital campaigns seen in a long time.

Credits
Client: Canadian Down Syndrome Society
National Executive Director: Kirk Crowther
Treasurer: Ed Casagrande
Board member: Ben Tarr
Communications Manager: Kaitlyn Pecson

Agency: FCB Canada
CEO: Tyler Turnbull
Chief Creative Officer: Jon Flannery
Chief Creative Officer: Jeff Hilts
Chief Creative Officer: Nancy Crimi-Lamanna
ACD, Art Director: Simon Tuplin
ACD, Copywriter: Pete Gardiner
Producer: Judy Hamilton
Editor: David Rodriguez
Group Account Director: Anabella Mandel
Account Manager: Joline Christiani
Senior Strategist: Eryn LeMesurier
Digital Strategist: Shelagh Hartford

Production:
Director: Elias Campbell
Director of Photography: Stephen McLouglin
Casting: Shasta Lutz, Jigsaw Casting