New York’s Northwell Health is known for having a Purpose. And not just talking about, but activating it with the “Raise Health” Movement and, recently, a major push for gun safety.
“We literally pull bullets out of babies,” Ramon Soto, Northwell’s chief marketing officer, calling gun violence affecting children a “national healthcare epidemic” that “doesn’t seem rational.”
At Northwell’s pediatric hospital, the Cohen Children’s Medical Center, the number of gunshot victims seen this year is already at 23, compared with the just six-to-eight total in any of the preceding four years.
So, after the Centers for Disease Control reported in May that guns are now the leading cause of kids’ deaths in the U.S., with 13 of them succumbing daily, Northwell decided that its five-year-old push for gun safety — which has included such steps as establishing a Gun Violence Prevention Center — needed to go even further.
The national effort is focused on breaking the taboo of talking about access to unlocked guns so it becomes a routine part of securing health and safety in our own and other people’s homes.
National Movement
Thousands of hospitals, health systems, and hospital associations have joined this Movement encouraging families to do one simple thing: ask about gun access and safety measures. The key goal is to reduce risk, putting the danger of unlocked guns front and center, while stressing the importance of asking friends, family, and neighbors about gun access.
“Much like you ask the parent of your child’s friend about food allergies, or if there is a pool, you should also ask if there is a gun in the home,” said Michael Dowling, president and CEO of Northwell Health. “Health systems, including Northwell Health, understand that gun violence is a public health crisis and one way we can all contribute to curbing the crisis is prevention. It starts by asking the question.”
Ferocious Tiger
As part of this movement, a TV spot titled “Ferocious Tiger” for the campaign is running in New York.
Northwell is showing large companies and organizations how to lead with Purpose, and how to take actions that drive a higher goal. Moreover, they understand that asking may be difficult or awkward, but breaking the taboo of talking about access to unlocked guns as the first step of gun safety. Northwell believes it is time to carve out a healthcare lane for this issue, because it truly doesn’t kill to ask.
The integrated communications platform centers upon a simple idea: guns are now the leading cause of death for kids, and asking about unlocked guns in the home could help save lives.
For more than 60 years, motor vehicle crashes were the leading cause of injury-related death among young people. But firearms have taken their place, as “in 2020, firearm-related injuries became the leading cause of death… among children and adolescents.
Northwell believes some of the greatest creative efforts have been directed at gun violence, but little has changed. So Northwell set out to fuel action by speaking to consumers in a new way that doesn’t skew political, preachy or judgemental.
In addition to the 30-second TV spot, Northwell’s gun violence prevention campaign includes integrated content such as OOH, radio, digital display, and social media. The launch film was created by StrawberryFrog and directed by Steve Mapp of FANCY Content.
“We know that a lot of work has been done in the past for gun violence prevention and firearm deaths have only increased. So, we wanted to stay away from tear-jerking interviews with families, scare tactics and horrifying statistics — we want to reframe gun violence as a public health epidemic that affects all of us,” said Soto.
Scott Goodson
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