Havas has launched a first-of-its-kind campaign featuring the world’s first petition-signing bionic arm to raise awareness of a muscular disease.

‘The Most Powerful Arm Ever Invented’, created in aid of children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), who have lost the ability to write, is the result of a collaboration between Havas and production company Finch, working alongside the Red Agency and digital agency, Reactive.

The campaign is fronted by 19-year-old Jacob Lancaster (pictured) who was diagnosed with DMD when he was five and was confined to a wheelchair by the age of nine.

The genesis of the arm, capable of 8500 signatures a day, is the brainchild of Emad Tahtouh, director of creative technology at Finch.

He told B&T that the idea to build a robotic arm was so that every Australian could sign the petition on behalf of children with DMD, even those children suffering from the disease.  

“It was technical build and very original,” said Tahtouh, who added the petition is hoping to get 300,000 signatures in total.  

“It’s not like anything that has been done before  … it includes things like online interaction with Facebook, a webcam and a whole host of other features. It was pretty nerve-wracking creating it but it does grab your attention and we are proud of it,” he added.

Steve Coll, executive creative director of Havas in Australia, said: “It’s not just any robot arm; it’s the most powerful arm ever invented because it has the power to save lives. To make the message even more powerful, we gave the robot the same handwriting as Jacob by creating a font taken from one of the last things he wrote before losing the ability to write, a Mother’s day card.”

He added that what Havas loves about the campaign is that it gives Jacob ownership because it allows him to sign the petition himself.

“We hope this innovative idea will get widespread coverage so that this disease can be recognized as a worthy cause.”

The Most Powerful Arm Ever Invented will be stationed until 21 April at Sydney’s Customs House, or you can simply sign the petition at TheMostPowerfulArm.com