Who we’re helping...

It was decided at the outset by advertising agency Da Vinci Edison Bell that the commercial needed to feature a series of real life heroes who had been physically scarred in the line of their work "The scar concept comes from the idea that people do these incredible jobs and put their lives at risk to save other people," says creative director Patrick Robertson, "that idea had a natural fit to someone that decides to donate their organs to save another human being. That is an incredibly heroic thing to do."

The commercial was directed by the dynamic new directing team Striking Undies Cook. This innovative trio consists of directors Catharine Cooke, Sylvaine Strike and Russell Underhill. Together they tackled the concept, refined the idea and established a high end documentary shooting style for the commercial. Casting directors Streetwize in Cape Town assisted in the casting and tirelessly fought to find the right cast members.

Explains casting director Leigh Pollack: "Each cast member has his or her own heroic story. For example lifesaver Achmat Hasseim literally fought off a huge great white shark to save the life of his brother whilst they where training off Sunrise Beach. He lost his right leg below the knee. After much soul searching he made a decision to create a new life for himself as a Paralympics swimmer. He has won a host of swimming medals and he has already competed at the Beijing Paralympics and he is now preparing for the London Olympics." Equally awesome, humbling and inspiring stories came from the other heroes namely landmine demining worker Serafim Daudo, paramedic Chrishando Staines, World war two veteran William Keeble MBE and fireman Shane Wolstencroft.

All these portraits of heroes finally culminate in the portrait of Suzanne Naidoo who bravely donated a kidney to save the life of her son Mekyle.

But it’s not only the donors who are the heroes. As Annamarie Wagner of KidneyBeanz Trust explains "It’s fitting that the basis of this commercial is around heroes. That is exactly what we are trying to instil in the kids, that they are heroes who are strong and brave. We encourage them to see this period of kidney disease as just one aspect of their lives. They can focus on much more than just this time in their lives. They can conquer so much more after their treatment."

Once the filming was in the bag, the committed team began their fight to secure the song rights for Coldplay’s "Fix You" to accompany the visuals.

After a long application process through Universal and EMI music super group Coldplay gave permission to use their fitting and deeply moving song. "Fix You" is now the memorable soundtrack for the KidneyBeanz commercial showing on TV and at cinemas.
"The Coldplay soundtrack has been an absolute coup for us" said Annamarie Wagner. "The trust has only been in existence for three years and the commercial will help raise awareness of what our organisation is about. The visuals were already mesmerising, but now with the Coldplay soundtrack to help drive the message home we have a brand message that we are all extremely proud of."

The KidneyBeanz commercial was made possible by numerous generous donations from crew and suppliers. Post production was generously donated by Orchestra Blue Post Production and visual effects by the Ministry of Illusion. In the end, all the donors pulled together reminding the team of the power of humanity.