GCD Jenny Nicholson takes part in “End Family Fire” Advertising Week panel

October 12, 2020

On Wednesday, McKinney GCD Jenny Nicholson participated in the Advertising Week panel, “End Family Fire: Saving Lives in a Polarized Time.” The panel began with a screening of “No Extra Life,” the film that launched our “End Family Fire” campaign for the Ad Council and Brady United — a campaign that also includes work across social video, radio, print, digital, and OOH.

In seeking to prevent gun suicides, the campaign reaches out to both those who own and don’t own guns. How? By advocating for something that seemingly everyone involved in the conversation can support: the prevention of gun suicides through safe storage of guns.

Nicholson was joined on the panel by Ad Council Chief Campaign Development Officer Michelle Hillman, Brady United President Kris Brown, and Bustle Digital Group’s President and CRO Jason Wagenheim.

Every member of the panel agreed that an apolitical campaign inclusive of every perspective in the conversation was critical because gun suicide is something that happens, on average, over 60 times a day — accounting for more deaths every day than have occurred in any mass shooting in the United States — and it impacts people and families regardless of political stripe or their desire for protection.

Throughout the conversation, each of the panel members weighed in with emotion and insight, just a sampling of which is below:

– Hillman, in opening the panel discussion, said the key, and of paramount importance for her heading into this project, was to deliver on a breakthrough campaign.

– Wagenheim spoke as a “concerned parent” about his belief in the work’s importance at this time and in this place: “This is our generation’s ‘Buckle Up.’ This is our generation’s ‘Stop Smoking.’”

– Nicholson’s biggest fear regarding McKinney’s role in creating the campaign? She was afraid “we weren’t going to get it right.” An unfounded fear, by all accounts.

– And Brown emphasized the importance of debunking the many myths around suicide and encapsulated what all parties were feeling: “Our goal, in the end, is simply to save lives.”

If you registered for Advertising Week, you can watch the panel here on their website.