The stories behind the benches

PROBLEM
The previous campaign for suicide prevention helpline 113 encouraged people to start a conversation about suicide when they see someone is struggling. This was done with a special plaque that – when attaching it to an ordinary bench – creates a space to have a conversation on suicide. Since the start of this campaign, over a thousand people across The Netherlands have ordered the plaque and attached it to a bench in their neighbourhood. Each with its own story. How to bring these important, personal stories to a larger public?

SOLUTION
By making these stories the campaign itself. In five short documentaries people are seen on the bench for which they ordered a plaque. These five stories give a glimpse of the many, diverse stories behind the thousand benches and plaques. Every single story leads as an example on starting the conversations and thereby encourages others to do so too.

CREATIVE
To bring these stories to a broad audience, each interview has been translated into different formats – photography, online videos, web articles and social posts – adjusting to what works best for each medium. All stories can be found together on the landing page ikzieje.nl. The videos and photography have a documentary style, in which both the person and the plaque are the main subjects. These five conversations encourage people to attach a plaque to their bench, which hopefully leads to many more people starting the conversation about suicide.