Background:
Korea is the world’s only divided country.
There’re people in this land who haven’t seen their families in 70 years, less have any knowledge on whether their families are living or dead. Their loved ones are a few kilometers away, and yet their hands are tied.
As of 2015, the number of people in Korea that have been separated by war is estimated at 66,289. Of them, 81.6% are over the age of 70. These people don’t have much longer left to live. Their last wish is seeing the faces of their loved ones one last time before they die. Yet, there is nothing they can do but yearn for their families as they gaze upon old, faded photographs. With each passing year, they realize they’re running out of time. To that end, an idea was developed to bring some measure of comfort to those who’ve long been weary of the wait.
Creative Idea:
This idea was developed to bring some measure of comfort to those who’ve long been weary of the wait and fulfill their last wish.
The idea involved old photographs and KIST’s 3D age progression technology, originally developed to identify criminals and missing persons.
This software was used to predict the faces of the divided family members by drawing from the faces found in old photographs dating back to before the war. At least this way, families in North and South Korea who have been separated from their loved ones can be reunited in the pages of photo albums.
We reached out to 23 persons who fortunately had old photographs taken before the Korean War 70 years ago. The likenesses of the family members were predicted using the age progression software. The photographs were featured in an exhibition which was opened to the public to touch more lives through these stories.
Strategy:
The single most important keyword for Samsung as a brand is the word “connect.” This is precisely why we are focusing on mobile—to allow users to connect to people who are far away, to people they cannot be with. The Last Wish campaign arose out of this brand philosophy, to help people connect. Through this campaign, families were able to connect with their loved ones at least in photographs, the same loved ones they only saw in their dreams. While Samsung’s mobile or display products were not directly featured anywhere in the campaign, the medium of photography, which allowed families from South and North Korea who have been separated for 70 years to be together again, was a truly enabling technology that allowed people to connect.
Execution:
We placed phone calls to over 2,000 people who were separated from their families during the Korean War to determine how many still had photographs of their families living in North Korea. We narrowed down the candidates and visited them at their homes. Twenty-three respondents had actual photographs we could use, and these photographs were delivered to KIST (Korea Institute of Science and Technology). Using 3D age progression software, KIST created images of the current likenesses of the missing family members by predicting what they must look like today. We then provided the computer graphic design work to produce photographs of the families from both South and North Korea. These unique photographs, together with the stories of the families who have been separated for over 70 years, were featured in an exhibition that was viewed not only by the separated families and senior citizens, but by young people as well.
Results:
Major media outlets across the Republic of Korea featured this story, with much of the press and various media channels announcing the opening of the photo exhibition. Online, the promotional video for this exhibition recorded over 400,000 views (as of August 21). Throughout its three-day run, the exhibition drew nearly 1,000 visitors who came to share the emotional moments.
What was especially meaningful was seeing the divided families who had been lost from their loved ones for nearly 70 years find comfort in the photographs. This campaign was meaningful for Korean citizens as well, as it gave everyone the opportunity to remind themselves once again of the families’ sorrow.