THE SHOTLINE
Client: Change The Ref & March For Our Lives
Deliverables: Microsite, Social, Live Press Event
Cannes Lions Bronze x2
Cannes Lions Shortlist x3
Grand Effie Contender
Effie Gold x3
Effie Silver x2
Effie #1 Most Effective Brand
Effie #2 Most Effective Marketer
ADC Silver
ADC Merit x3
Webby Judge's Winner x3
Shorty Grand Winner
Shorty Gold
Shorty Silver
Shorty Bronze
Clio Shortlist x3
One Show Finalist x2
D&AD Shortlist
Sabre Awards Boldest Campaign
PRWeek Awards Best in Non-profit
Cannes ACT Collection
ACT Care Awards Winner
In 2023 alone, 43,036 people were killed by guns, and mass shootings surged to their second-highest year on record. Research shows that calling our representatives remains one of the most effective ways to drive change.
But the thousands of lives lost to gun violence each year no longer have a voice to make that call.
So we used cutting-edge AI audio technology to recreate the voices of victims and turn them into phone calls to Congress. We then put that power in Americans’ hands via the “The Shotline,” enabling people to send these calls again and again, creating an advocacy rallying cry too loud and urgent to ignore.
VOICES LOST TO GUN VIOLENCE CALL FOR CHANGE.
Over three months, we worked closely with families of gun violence victims to collect home videos, personal writings, and social media posts to preserve the essence of their loved ones. From these memories, we used AI to carefully reconstruct their voices.
Those recreated voices then placed prerecorded calls to Congress — telling the story of how gun violence ended their lives, revealing how AI allowed them to speak again, and urging lawmakers to take action.
The centerpiece of the campaign is TheShotline.Org. On this platform, anyone from around the country can type in their zip code to send one or more of the AI voice phone calls to their specific representative. The site is still live, so send some calls!
RESULTS
The Shotline marked the first-ever use of AI to overwhelm Congress with calls. We brought back the voices of the dead and transformed silence into pressure—forcing lawmakers to confront the lives lost not as statistics, but as voices demanding change.
251,000
calls sent to congress (and counting)
5.4 billion
organic impressions
46% increase
in gun reform conversation
Credits
AGENCY: MullenLowe Boston
Tim Vaccarino: Executive Creative Director
Tucker Stosic: Associate Creative Director, Art Director
Anne Love Feild: Associate Creative Director, Social
Jack Loftus: Associate Creative Director, Copywriter
Juanita Baquero Rey: Brand Strategist
Kim Burns: SVP Business Affairs
Gillian Blain: Executive Producer
Courtney Coyne: Executive Producer, Digital
Dave Lee: VP, Head of Technology
Paul Dornfeld: Senior Developer
Aaron Hachen: Senior QA Specialist
João Paz: Head of Design
Gabe Guedelha: Associate Creative Director, Design
Christian Meissner: Senior Motion Designer
Jung Lee: Senior Motion Designer
Tori Stosic: Senior Project Manager