Vodafone breaks the silence on loneliness

With more than one million people living in solitude in Hungary - that's 10% of the population - Vodafone Hungary decided to focus on an untraditional theme for Christmas this year; loneliness. 

Created by VMLY&R Hungary and Bold Budapest, and directed by Marci Nyitrai, the two-minute film, called Break the Silence, sees Uncle Imre, an elderly widow, having friendly chats with a butcher, sharing stories with the postman, and conversations with the florist and his neighbours in the elevator. 

But each of these people is eager to move on to the next customer or the next thing on their to-do list, leaving Imre to arrive home to an empty house, only the photograph of his late wife for company. Luckily, the story takes a happier turn when his phone rings and the neighbouring family come over to share the joy of Christmas with him.

"We want to shine a light on all the 'Uncle Imres' living in Hungary," said Péter Juhász, Head of Brand and Media at Vodafone Hungary. "We can truly change this social phenomenon and reduce the number of lonely people this Christmas if we join our forces and act together."

"The campaign tackles a social issue that knows no border or season," adds Dániel Csirke, Group Executive Creative Director of VMLY&R Hungary. "It was important to leverage the Christmas period to dramatise solitude on the happiest day of the year, but we hope that our campaign inspires people to pay attention to each other throughout the whole year."