CHEP has unveiled the animated short, Blip: Lightyears from Home, in partnership with for Hospitals United for Sick Kids, a national alliance dedicated to raising funds to help sick kids get home, and back to the things they miss.
The film, produced by Assembly, Finch, and Sonar, follows its adorable space protagonist, Blip, on a mission to return home. The film’s metaphor reflects the alienating experience of sick children in hospitals, who, much like Blip, often feel lightyears away from home.
Launched in 2019, Hospitals United for Sick Kids has raised over $7 million with the support of key partners including Coles, Lowes, and Swisse, which have helped in fundraising for investments into research, technology, treatments and services across Australia.
The campaign – rolling out via TV, OOH and socials – follows the organisation’s recent rebrand from Curing Homesickness to Hospitals United for Sick Kids.
Beyond the short, the character of Blip will now be a mainstay symbol that Lightyears from Home partner brands can use to show their support.
Paul Meates, executive creative director at CHEP, said the idea for Blip came with successful and rapid growth of partner products, which quickly called for something to tie them together.
“Something emblematic of what it’s like to be a kid in hospital,” described Meates. “Something that could appear on any product to make it instantly recognisable as a product that helps sick kids get home from hospital. Blip was our solution – a cute, vulnerable space character far from home.”
Mum’s Sause is one such product – stocked in Coles, and developed in response to kids in hospital missing their mums’ home-cooked sauce. Launched in 2019, 50c from every jar of the ‘sause’ sold goes to the charity.
“With Blip, we hope to reach out and inspire consumers to make simple changes to their daily shopping by choosing products that help get sick kids back to the things they miss,” explained Hospitals United for Sick Kids’s newly appointed CEO, Nicky Bowie.
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Credits:
Client: Hospital United for Sick Kids
CEO: Nicky Bowie
Marketing and communications lead: Shilpi Khanna
Corporate partnerships manager: Tammy Grillo
National coordinator: Kim Roberts
Social media manager: Danielle Johnson
Agency: CHEP Network Sydney
Production company: Assembly
Director: Matt von Trott
Executive producer: Jane Oak
Laad art director and lead animator: Joshua Fourt-Wells
Animator: Frankie Principe
Animator: Elliot Stronge
Production company: Finch
CEO: Rob Galluzzo
Managing director / executive producer: Corey Esse
Executive producer: Loren Bradley
Music / sound: Sonar Music
Original music composition: Matteo Zingales
Additional music and production: Josh Pearson
Vocalist: Josie Mann
Senior sound designer: Andy Stewart
Head Of sound: Timothy Bridge
Producer: Haylee Poppi
Executive producer: Sophie Haydon