Drowning is the leading cause of death in young children. People think children are most at risk at swim time. Shockingly, 70% of these drownings happen unexpectedly — when they're not even swimming. This tragic reality has gone overlooked for far too long as it continues to claim the lives of more children every year. Urgent action was needed to prevent these devastating tragedies.
The National Drowning Prevention Alliance launched The Clothes They Wore on World Drowning Prevention Day to expose a devastating truth: most child drownings don’t happen in a swimsuit. The campaign featured the actual wet clothes of children who drowned accompanied by parents telling the true stories illustrating these horrific events can happen to any parent and when they least expect it. Spanning multiple platforms including film, audio, social, out-of-home activations, guerilla marketing, and even children’s retail — The Clothes They Wore brought the real clothes, the real stories and the reality of child drownings to life in a powerful, immersive way.
This culminated in a pivotal press event, uniting parents and policymakers to push for change. The campaign led to congress committing to legislation with a groundbreaking national child drowning prevention initiative that will save lives.