Plan Belgium "14 year old pregnant teen" 2:30 (Belgium)

Excuse the link bit title, but there was no other way to describe this spot.
In Belgium, teenagers don't end up getting pregnant and dropping out of school. It's quite rare. The reality for developing countries is quite different, however.

To make Belgian teens understand reality outside their country, Plan Belgium brought the issue to their schools via a pregnant teen.

After the day is up, showing what a pregnant teen would face if they endured going to school, the rug was pulled, the teen was only faking, and Plan Belgium rushed in to smooth over any anxiety a the European kids might have felt for a whole few hours, secure in the knowledge that a. yes you can do something about it and b. the problem really isn't *here* but *over there*.

I hope this was on some level a giant shock to the complacent teens who JDGAF about stuff like this. That the reaction from the school kids ranges from openly curious to downright mocking and condescending only backs up my assertion. There is a definite "us vs. them," from the second the spot starts and it's hard to look past that.

The look by the end isn't one of "we can solve this," so much as "thank God I won't have to be bothered by her any more."

To be fair, I'm sure not all the kids felt that way. Some were empathetic for sure. Either way I hope some closed minds were opened about the issue at hand, and that they might indeed roll up their sleeves hold up their hand and help.

I know it's not Plan Belgium's area of interest but I think another organization would do well to show up to class next week and tell the condescending kids who think problems only happen outside their borders that Belgium has a very real and very near problem called human trafficking. Who wants to raise their hands and help?

Agency: Duval Guillaume
Executive Creative Directors:
Geoffrey Hantson
Katrien Bottez
Copywriter:
Niels Sienaert
Art Director :
Tim Schoenmaeckers
Executive Producer:
Frederik Zaman
Production Company:
TRS Brussels
Director:
Jan Boon
Producer:
Thomas Landeloos
Editor
Hans Desmet
Account Director:
Dimitri Mundorff
Account Manager:
Jef Leysen
Client: Dirk Van Maele
Manuela Varasso