Don't Kill Your Grandma

With COVID numbers on the rise in Canada, and around the world, Toronto-based creative agency Open has launched a social campaign with a simple yet important message: Don't Kill Your Grandma.

The campaign features images of Laura Ashley-inspired fabric and wallpaper patterns: things we typically associate with our grandmothers, and a positive reminder of how much we love them. The headline, in contrast, is reminiscent of on-pack cigarette warnings.

The messaging is simple: we love our grandparents and we don’t want to put them at risk with careless and reckless social behavior during the pandemic. Let’s all stay home and safe and let’s make sure we can see our grandmas and grandpas once this is all over.

Originally launched over the holiday season to encourage Canadians not to travel or spend time with people or family outside of their own households, the social campaign has been relaunched as Ontario enters a second emergency that has resulted in a stay-at-home order and enhanced lockdown restrictions to curb rising COVID cases and deaths. 

The English and French posts were designed to be highly shareable across Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, which is what has happened. The holiday posts have been shared more than 5,000 times, reaching over 160,000 people and collecting 2000 engagements.

“This was inspired by a conversation I had with my daughter back in September, at the start of her school year, in Montreal,” says Open Partner, Martin Beauvais. “I knew my mother would want to see her granddaughter and help her get groceries, set up her new apartment, etc. and I was looking for the best way to make her understand that it was important for her not to party or mingle in large groups. I was looking for a way to make the message stick and hit home. I know my daughter loves her grandmother and would never do anything to put her at risk.”