For the second year in a row, WPP-owned ideas and innovation agency AKQA has partnered with Monash University and Muscular Dystrophy Australia (MDA) to bring to life the imaginative Christmas ornaments of kids with muscular dystrophy.
For most kids, making Christmas decorations is a simple, fun activity that’s taken for granted. Thousands of Aussie kids are affected by muscular dystrophy, and these simple things like making and decorating a Christmas ornament is a lot harder to do.
Affecting one in every 625 Aussies, muscular dystrophy is a muscle-destroying disorder that slowly takes away your muscles, mobility and quality of life – but it doesn’t take away your imagination.
Off the back of its 2016 Christmas campaign, MDA got its imaginative kids to design Christmas ornaments called ‘Little Miracles’. They were also asked to name their ornament and tell its story.
Then, Monash University’s design students and engineers used 3D printing technology to turn digital blueprints into physical copies of each Little Miracle, with packaging giving each ornament its own personality.
A spokesperson for MDA said: “These ornaments aren’t miracles until someone buys them and funds a real miracle – a cure for Muscular Dystrophy.
“So, this Christmas, if you need to buy a small gift that makes a big difference – whether it’s for KK or a stocking filler – bring a Little Miracle to life. All profits go towards finding a cure.”
Brian Vella, managing director of AKQA for the Asia-Pacific region, said: “We facilitated the partnership by sourcing Monash as our 3D partner for MDA and helped their teams bring the campaign to life.
“We love contributing to this cause. It’s so close to our hearts and such a good reminder at Christmas time that some kids can’t make those Christmas trinkets that are such a big part of every child’s Christmas experience.”
