animated billboards of missing people in the UK hope for a faster search

Missing People Charity

According to Missing People, a UK-based charity that reunites missing children and adults with their loved ones, around 170,00 people are reported missing to the police every year in the UK, and many people will go missing more than once (98,000 of them are adults while more than 70,000 are children). ‘Research suggests, however, that police data used in these figures is likely to be a significant underestimate. Some people will not be reported missing to the police at all, and there are problems with incomplete data on missing people,’ the charity writes. To further spread the search, the charity partnered with creative agencies to redesign its missing posters based on behavioral-science evidence and artificial intelligence as part of its Missing Children’s Day campaign last May 25th.

images from Missing People

Digital posters

The digital posters are flashed on giant LCD screens across London in Westfield White City, Westfield Stratford, and Canary Wharf. The new layout has less information to not bombard the people with overloaded details, a factor that may make them stop looking at the posters and keep on walking. The digital posters have the image of the missing person, a call-to-action to the public using ‘help find’ in a large font size followed by the name of the person, and below sits the information about the last sighting of the person. As part of the campaign’s digitization, a giant QR code is placed next to the image of the missing person to urge people to stop in their tracks, scan the image using their smartphones, and learn how they can help with the search.

animated billboards of missing people in the UK hope for a faster search

Collaborating with creative agencies

‘Leah, Alexander, and Finn are only a small fraction of those reported missing – 70,000 children go missing every year. Unfortunately, their families are still no closer to having the answers they so desperately need. This is where you can get involved’, the charity writes. As of the release of the new posters, video appeals of Leah Croucher, Alexander Sloley, and Finn Layland-Stratfield are featured on donated Ocean Outdoor for the campaign. The aim for a more action-oriented campaign is driven by Creative Engine’s work plus its collaboration with visual effects company Untold Studios to increase the quality of the photos, and AI experts D-ID to bring the still photographs and the missing people to life (the images of the missing people are animated, thanks to this technology and approach).

Missing People worked with different creative agencies for the project