Barnardo's: Hyena

Computer-generated hyenas symbolising the fear and anxiety felt by bullied children feature in a ground-breaking new Barnardo's TV advert to be broadcast this evening. The advert which highlights the charity’s mental health support services, will air for the first time tonight on Channel 4. Creative agency FCB Inferno concepted the films in partnership with production company Rogue Films, award-winning director Sam Brown, VFX experts The Mill, and sound studio Factory. Depicting a 12-year-old girl feeling distressed and afraid when at school, walking home and in her home via her phone in her bedroom. Through the advert the audience can see that that, because of social media and with most children owning smartphones and other devices, problems at school can follow young people home. In the 40 second commercial, the girl finds support and hope for the future by talking to a specialist Barnardo’s counsellor. It’s the first in a series of three new adverts which are the next instalment of Barnardo’s ‘Believe In Me’ awareness-raising campaign. The stories are depicted by actors but are based on just one of the many real-life experiences of some of the children supported by the UK’s leading children’s charity. Staff working in children’s services for Barnardo’s have been consulted to ensure emotions are represented authentically and a mental health practitioner was present during filming.