TANK Worldwide is taking on a deep-rooted health disparity in its latest campaign, which highlights the high rate of Black maternal mortality in the U.S.
The Last Lullabye aims to raise awareness about the racial health disparity — in which Black women are 3.5 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications compared to white women.
The campaign highlights the story of Dr. Shalon Irving, who passed away in 2017 three weeks after giving birth to her daughter. Irving, who was 36, worked as an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Using AI, the creative team from TANK Worldwide created audio with Irving’s voice from old video footage, seeking to get as personal and authentic as possible with the campaign’s message.
Marty Martinez, chief creative officer at TANK Worldwide, said the inspiration came from a meeting with Wanda Irving, Shalon Irving’s mother, who is now raising Soleil.
“Having that discussion with a real person who was directly impacted, who spoke about what her life and her reality look like in raising a young kid — it [gave us] a huge sense of responsibility,” Martinez said. “To keep it as real, as relatable as possible — to take the feeling we got during that meeting and to transpose that into the message — was crucial for us. The creative had to deliver on that reality without distorting anything, without having the message overwhelmed by the technology or creative wrapping. Pushing the core of it was essential.”
To support the project, TANK Worldwide worked in partnership with Dr. Shalon’s Maternal Action Project, a nonprofit that focuses on maternal health, as well as the Population Reference Bureau.
Just this month, the CDC released new data showing that maternal deaths saw a massive year-over-year increase – 40% – in 2021. Black women are also five times more likely to die from postpartum blood pressure problems and cardiomyopathy in the weeks post-birth compared to white women.
The goal of the campaign, which features videos, a dedicated website, and interviews with experts and Black mothers, is to trigger a larger conversation about the persisting disparity, Martinez said.
“I’m hoping this will be the trigger for bigger conversations that will eventually lead to a shift,” Martinez explained. “Being overly ambitious that this is going to create change would be unrealistic — but the reality is that change happens when things are being talked about, when things are creating a small shift that’s tangible. Those small changes lead to a big change.”
In conversations with Wanda Irving, Martinez noted that she hopes to launch a camp called “Sunny Days” that is dedicated to children who lost their mothers in maternal deaths. Donations to Dr. Shalon’s Maternal Action Project directed through the campaign will partially go toward setting up the camp.
“There’s not a single person that we have shared this work with that hasn’t had the same reaction — the reaction that keeps you in complete silence for a couple seconds after you listen to it,” Martinez said. “It gives you the opportunity to reflect on what you heard, and also to reflect on what’s going to happen next. That’s the type of reaction we’re hoping to get out of people.”
