Fondation 30 Millions d’Amis - We Are The Champions
Fondation 30 Millions d’Amis tasked Altmann + Pacreau with creating a high-impact awareness campaign to address France's status as the European leader in pet abandonment. They needed to move beyond traditional 'sad dog' tropes to shock the French public into a national conversation before the summer holiday peak, aiming to influence both social behavior and government policy regarding animal welfare.
Creative Idea
Ordinary people sang a triumphant anthem while abandoning their pets to highlight national shame.
To combat France's record-breaking pet abandonment rates, the campaign uses biting irony by showing ordinary people triumphantly singing Queen's 'We Are The Champions' while discarding their pets, turning a national anthem of pride into a mirror of national shame.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
A respected animal welfare foundation with a history of emotional storytelling and strong relationships with high-profile advocates like Brian May.
Category
Category norms usually rely on pity and sadness, showing suffering animals to guilt-trip the audience into donations or better behavior.
Customer
People often view abandonment as a distant problem caused by 'bad' people, rather than a widespread societal failure involving ordinary citizens.
Culture
The French summer holiday season traditionally sees a massive spike in abandonment, creating a timely moment for a national 'electroshock.'
Company
A respected animal welfare foundation with a history of emotional storytelling and strong relationships with high-profile advocates like Brian May.
Category
Category norms usually rely on pity and sadness, showing suffering animals to guilt-trip the audience into donations or better behavior.
Strategy:
Use subversive irony to transform a symbol of national pride into a catalyst for collective social accountability.
Customer
People often view abandonment as a distant problem caused by 'bad' people, rather than a widespread societal failure involving ordinary citizens.
Culture
The French summer holiday season traditionally sees a massive spike in abandonment, creating a timely moment for a national 'electroshock.'
Strategy:
Use subversive irony to transform a symbol of national pride into a catalyst for collective social accountability.
Strategy Technique
Give People a Badge
"Give People a Badge" amplifies the campaign's ironic message - by associating the "champion" badge with shameful abandonment, it forces uncomfortable self-reflection. This jarring contrast aims to shock viewers into changing their behavior.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Use a famous song
By recontextualizing a legendary anthem of victory, the film creates a jarring contrast between the song's triumphant energy and the cruel reality of abandonment, forcing viewers to feel the weight of their collective 'championship.'
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
The campaign uses a brilliant subversion of a triumphant anthem to highlight a shameful national statistic, creating a powerful cognitive dissonance.
The choice to use 'We Are The Champions' to mock the 'championship' of pet abandonment is a masterstroke of ironic messaging.
The actors deliver the lines with a chilling lack of remorse that makes the betrayal feel visceral.
The contrast between the wide, epic shots of the 'champions' and the intimate, lonely shots of the animals is highly effective.
The use of the French national colors in the smoke flares ties the issue directly to national identity and shame.
The synergy between the iconic music and the disturbing visual narrative creates a memorable and uncomfortable viewing experience that demands attention.
The Champion Title No One Wanted
A National Electroshock
The campaign targeted a grim reality: France holds the title of European leader in animal abandonment, with 100,000 animals discarded annually. To break through the noise, CCO Olivier Altmann pivoted from the emotional "sadness" of previous years to a strategy of subversive irony. By depicting ordinary citizens - not caricatured villains - discarding pets in rubbish chutes and on roadsides, the film forced a "national outburst." This "electroshock" approach succeeded where others failed, triggering a formal government mission to overhaul animal welfare legislation and combat the 60,000 abandonments that occur every summer.
The Queen Connection
The production secured the rights to the iconic anthem "We Are The Champions" for a symbolic "price in principle." This rare concession was granted because Brian May, Queen's legendary guitarist, is a dedicated animal rights activist. The band's support was further fueled by the legacy of Freddie Mercury, a famous cat lover who once shared his home with ten cats. This musical choice was central to the creative hook, transforming a song of triumph into a mirror of national embarrassment.
Cinematic Subversion
Directed by the world - renowned collective MEGAFORCE and produced by Iconoclast, the film utilized high - end commercial aesthetics to heighten the irony. By using the same visual language seen in their work for global brands like Nike and Burberry, the directors made the act of abandonment look like a celebratory achievement. This stylistic choice removed the "villain" archetype, forcing the public to recognize abandonment as a common societal failure rather than an isolated act of cruelty. The resulting digital impact was massive, following a 2018 precursor that had already reached 45 million views.
