Leaves - SAAQ | Clapboard Ad Archive
Leaves, a film campaign for SAAQ created by LG2 in 2019, exemplifies the agency’s precise calibration of symbolism within the public service sector, leveraging metaphor to shift audience perspective on social responsibility. Set within the Canadian context and positioned by SAAQ’s public interest mandate, this campaign forgoes literal depictions of the problem in favour of evocative visual analogy: a creative strategy that Clapboard’s taxonomy identifies as FORMAT#3—Symbolize the Problem, which employs potent symbols to stand in for the lived reality of those affected. The title Leaves signals its conceptual fulcrum—the use of natural imagery, most likely fallen leaves, as an emotional proxy for individuals touched by the issue at hand, invoking loss, fragility, and the sometimes invisible consequences of collective behaviour in public spaces. By centring the film around this singular yet multifaceted symbol, the campaign calibrates both mood and message, immersing viewers in a narrative that is at once visually resonant and ripe for reflection. LG2’s editorial restraint—using a single, concentrated media asset—elevates the clarity and memorability of the message, allowing the audience to inhabit the metaphor rather than being directed toward an explicit call to action or prescriptive solution. This approach aligns with foundational principles of public interest communications where emotional literacy and participatory meaning-making often have more durable impact than didactic messaging. Leaves is not dependent on familiar celebrity faces or overt dramatization; its power lies in the viewer’s ability to project their own understanding onto the symbol, making the consequences of reckless or irresponsible behaviour intimately relatable. The campaign occupies the documentary and social experiment space, raising the stakes for community dialogue and self-reflection on a societal level, moving the conversation away from compliance toward internalization. In a landscape that often privileges shock or spectacle, Leaves stands apart for its meditative tempo and respect for audience intelligence—a conscious strategy to drive long-term behaviour change by planting evocative images in the public imagination. The campaign earns 63/100 in Clapboard’s global creative archive. SAAQ’s Leaves demonstrates to the industry how strong conceptual symbolism, when executed with cinematic discipline and narrative empathy, can elevate public service messaging beyond informational intent to genuine cultural resonance.
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