There are no hospital beds in End Kids Cancer's new spot. No little patients in gowns, no IV poles, no long shots down a grey hospital hallway. That absence is the whole point.
By the Numbers does something harder than tug at a heartstring: It makes you do math you don't want to do.
It opens on a toddler stacking blocks, then pushes in on one that reads 2. A line of type appears: Average age of children diagnosed with neuroblastoma: 2. And that's the idea. The spot moves through the everyday touchstones of a happy childhood and tucks a brutal statistic inside each one. You recognize the object a beat before you register the number.
The film builds to a closing image: one small, innocent gesture from a child at a birthday party that flips a statistic into a goal. It's a kid being a kid. It's also one of the most quietly powerful moments the category has offered in a while.
THE INSIGHT
The idea is deceptively simple. Childhood is measured in numbers: first birthdays, height charts, jersey numbers, and candle counts. We track a kid's entire life in small, joyful figures, and every one is a promise that another is coming.
For a child with neuroblastoma, those same digits harden into odds, and for their families, reaching the next milestone becomes an act of defiance. The idea behind the spot is simple: Each object and its statistic share a single number, so the sweet, familiar image reaches you just a second before the hard fact does. The horror isn’t graphic. It works through proximity. These could be the blocks of any child in your life.
WHY IT'S ON-BRAND
The restraint isn't a style choice – it's an authorship choice. End Kids Cancer was founded two decades ago by parents whose daughter survived neuroblastoma through multiple relapses. The campaign's voice, tender and fixated on the milestones a child deserves to reach, is the founders' own. And the ask is concrete: donations to fund clinical research into promising, non-toxic neuroblastoma treatments, part of a portfolio that includes 8+ trials.
MADE FOR FREE, BY EVERYONE
The restraint is matched by the generosity behind it. Every partner donated their work. RPA Advertising concepted the campaign pro bono, its second for End Kids Cancer. Picture North put its crew and cameras behind the shoot for free, and the post pipeline closed it out at no cost, with Union on edit and finishing, and Shindig Music and Lime Studios on score and mix. The team was brought together by Shortlist MGMT and Melissa Ross & Representatives, who connected RPA with its production and post partners. Even the media was donated, and because of this, SAG-AFTRA residuals are waived, stretching every dollar further still. In a business that loves to talk about purpose, this is purpose, no invoice attached.
THE TAKEAWAY FOR THE INDUSTRY
Where the category tends to default to sentimentality or shock, By the Numbers is data-as-cause storytelling at its most human, a gut-punch delivered without a single exploitative frame. It trusts the audience to do the addition, and it proves again that the most persuasive number in advertising is the one you let the viewer reach on their own.
End Kids Cancer's message is simple: "Help us reach 0 neuroblastoma cases." For more information, or to donate, visit endkidscancer.org
CREDITS
CLIENT: End Kids Cancer
Executive Director: Frank Kalman
AGENCY: RPA
CREATIVE / PRODUCTION:
EVP / Chief Creative Officer: Adam Lowrey
VP / Creative Director: Bang Pham
Art Director: Annie Brennan
Copywriter: Hovannes Petrosyan
Chief Production Officer: Selena Pizarro
VP / Director, Integrated Production: Jen Lamping
BUSINESS AFFAIRS:
Director of Business Affairs: Lisa Nichols
ACCOUNT:
President, Chief Operating Officer: Brett Bender
SVP / Group Account Director: Alexis Coller
Senior Account Executive: Jeremy Shapiro
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Picture North
Director: Jake Zalutsky
Executive Producer: Martin Rodahl
Executive Producer: Neha Schultz
Executive Producer: Ryan Patrick
Executive Producer: Mac Hedges
Head of Production: Alex Friedman
Head of Post Production: Stacey Nuzbach
Internal Coordinator: Kaylee Nedley
Line Producer: Lendi Slover
Production Supervisor: Laura Mittleberg
Assistant Director: Don Johnson
CAMERA:
Director of Photography: Matthew Pothier
1st AC: Josh Borgoni
2nd AC: Keaton Schneider
ELECTRIC:
Gaffer: Cole Pisano
Swing: Ryan Apley
GRIP:
Key Grip: Glenn Porter
ART DEPARTMENT:
Production Designer: Petra Vasvari de León
Art Coordinator: Edward de León
VANITIES:
Wardrobe Stylist: Vanessa Powell
HMU: Stacey Browning
PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS:
Truck PA: Vernon Davis
Set PA: Jahaziel Castenada-Arias
MISC:
Studio Teacher: Per Stella
EDITORIAL, COLOR, & FINISHING: Union Editorial
President / Managing Director: Michael Raimondi
Executive Producer: Logan Aries
Editor: Nadine Mueller
Senior Assistant Editor: Otto Mertins
Colorist / Flame Artist: Carolyn Woods
Producer: Haydee Robles
MUSIC: Shindig Music
Executive Producer / Partner: Debbi Landon
Creative Director / Partner: Scott Glenn
Head of Production: Caroline Hudson
Sound Designer / Mixer / Partner: Daniel Hart
Producer: Lilly Turner
Audio Engineer / Special Ops: Aidan Mastrogiorgio
AUDIO & FINAL MIX: LIME Studios
Executive Producer: Susie Boyajan
Mixer: Jeff Malen
Assistant: Victoria Cortez
TALENT:
Soccer Player: Mark Nunez
Soccer Player Extra: Mateo Torrez
Mother: Amanda Suk
Birthday Girl: Amelie Miyoshi
7-year-old: Remy Inoue
Toddler Extra: Cash Rivers
VO: Danielle Ezra
