Key Art | Advertising | Digital | Social
SJI was truly honored to partner with PBS to promote “The Vietnam War,” an epic 10-part, 18-hour documentary by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. Over a decade in the making, this series may be their most impressive yet — an intense experience with emotional interviews from all sides, from American soldiers to Viet Cong soldiers to antiwar activists.
There was an enormous and sensitive challenge in advertising this series and conveying the complexity of the conflict. According to Lynn Novick, “There’s no agreement among scholars, or Americans or Vietnamese, about what happened…” Our primary campaign key art uses a reflective image of an American soldier and a Vietnamese farmer, framed by the headline, “There is no single truth in war,” to illustrate the multiplicity of viewpoints, and the ambiguity of this painful time in history.
High-profile out of home placements in midtown Manhattan and Los Angeles helped build anticipation for the series critics have already called a “monumental achievement.”
Alternate campaign imagery for special placements such as military publications, employs the shadow of an iconic helicopter on a massive mosaic of images from the era.
The robust digital campaign included full page takeovers, and extensive rich media banners featuring trailers and bonus content.
Burns and Novick spent a decade making this film — something they could not have done, Burns said, anywhere but PBS. “There is no other place where this could have been made, where we could have spent 10 years.”
Half a century after the height of the war, the discussion goes on. “The Vietnam War” will surely be a catalyst for more debate, and possibly more understanding.
