New, Nail-Biting NYT Ads Tell the Harrowing Details of the Staff's International Investigations

The military-run government of Myanmar is one of the most merciless regimes on Earth, but that didn't stop a New York Times reporter from giving her official minders the slip when investigating reports of an ethnic cleansing campaign against the Rohingya people. In one of two new ads in agency Droga5's ongoing campaign, we see how Myanmar attempted to keep The New York Times from learning the heartbreaking details of a violent relocation effort against the Asian nation's ethnic minority. Stymied by an official tour, journalist Hannah Beech faked illness and then worked her way into a Rohingya village, where details still remained elusive due to widespread fear of the government. [kickout id="2"] The second new longform ad outlines a more personal story: the tale of how Mexican government officials used spyware to eavesdrop on journalists. [kickout id="1"] Assembling such detail-rich ads is obviously an intense process for the Droga5 team. We caught up with the work's lead creatives, Laurie Howell and Toby-Treyer Evans, to learn more about how it all comes together. Adweek: How does your team specifically work on a campaign like this? It's very different from the usual scripted approach to advertising. Toby Treyer-Evans, creative director, Droga5: We work with The New York Times, sifting through hundreds of recent, relevant articles to find those that most directly speak to the rigor, expertise and persistence that makes New York Times journalism worth paying for. After identifying the most compelling and impactful reporting, we spend time with the journalists: interviewing them, building timelines and carefully recording the way the stories developed. We then write scripts, fact-check, write again and collect assets. From there, we spend almost the entire time in the edit rejiggering and gathering more assets right up until we finalize the content. What are some of the unique challenges you come across while working on these kinds of mini-documentaries/ films? Laurie Howell, creative director, Droga5: It was a challenge telling months and months—sometimes years—of reporting on one story in under 2 minutes. It meant we had to be really reductive and boil down the writing while still keeping the points of impact and, in a very short time, tell the story of what the journalists went through. We had to do all of this while still upholding the journalistic standards of The New York Times and, of course, most importantly, the truth. As for the nature of the scripts themselves, we wanted to portray a single stream of consciousness from the point of view of the journalist, connecting every word as if writing and rewriting headlines as the journalist’s journey unfolded. Here's a look back at some previous ads in the series: [kickout id="3"] [kickout id="4"] [kickout id="5"] [kickout id="6"] CREDITS: Client: The New York Times Campaign: The Truth Is Worth It Agency: Droga5 NY Creative Chairman: David Droga Chief Creative Officer: Neil Heymann Executive Creative Director: Tim Gordon Creative Director: Laurie Howell Creative Director: Toby Treyer-Evans Copywriter: Chase Kimball Junior Copywriter: Ben Brown Junior Art Director: Jackie Moran Design Director: Nate Moore Designer: Eli Hochberg Chief Creation Officer: Sally-Ann Dale Director of Film Production: Jesse Brihn Associate Director of Film Production: Ruben Mercadal Senior Producer, Film: Topher Cochrane Senior Producer, Film: Brandon Chen Associate Producer, Film: Holly Schussler Music Supervisor: Mike Ladman Director of Business Affairs: Jocelyn Howard Senior Business Affairs Manager: Whitney Vose Global Chief Strategy Officer: Jonny Bauer Head of Strategy: Harry Román-Torres Strategy Director: Nick Maschmeyer Head of Communications Strategy: Dean Challis Group Communications Strategy Director: Samantha Deevy Senior Communications Strategist: Jay Potash Data Strategy Director: Ryan Miller Group Account Director: Courtney Russell Account Director: Ola Abayomi Account Manager: Tehjal Suri Senior Project Manager: Caroline Kosse Junior Project Manager: Amanda Cohen Legal: Sarah Fox Client New York Times Meredith Kopit Levien: EVP & Chief Operating Officer David Rubin: SVP, Head of Brand Amy Weisenbach: VP, Brand Marketing Iain Newton: Brand Strategy Consultant Sabena Gupta: Director, Brand Strategy Laura Forde: Executive Creative Director, Brand Marketing Brenda Natoli: Director, Head of Voice Brenna King Schleifer: Brand & Media Insights Director Janis Huang: Executive Director, Marketing & Media Strategy Peter Lauer: Senior Manager, Media Strategy Blair Ecton: Senior Project Manager Production Company: Furlined Directors: Daniel Lindsay and TJ Martin President: Diane McArter Executive Producer/Director of Development: Ben Davies Executive Producer: David Thorne Editorial: Final Cut Editor: Jim Helton Assistant Editors: Chris Rizzo, Sophie Solomon, Alyce Muhammed Executive Producer: Sarah Roebuck Head of Production: Penny Ensley Producer: Lareysa Smith Postproduction: Significant Others Producers: Alek Rost, Kyra Hendricks Animator: Phil Brooks Creative Director: Dirk Greene VFX Artist: Betty Cameron VFX Artist: Jenna DeAngelis Color: Company 3 Senior Colorist: Tom Poole Colorist: Sophie Borup Producer: Alexandra Lubrano Music Composers: Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans Sound Wave Studios NY Sound Designer/Mixer: Aaron Reynolds Sound Designer/Mixer: Ed Downham Executive Producer: Vicky Ferraro

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New, Nail-Biting NYT Ads Tell the Harrowing Details of the Staff's International Investigations

Droga5 campaign continues with stories of ethnic cleansing and surveillance

David Griner

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