Buffering Faces Make a Powerful Point for Alzheimer's Foundation

Some memories just won't load

Sometimes, those battling Alzheimer’s see a face they just can’t place. The names and associations of people and places remain just out of reach, familiar yet achingly unknown.

Like digital content that keeps buffering … buffering … buffering … with no resolution in sight.

Swedish NGO the Alzheimer’s Foundation developed the approach with Stockholm creative collective Kid. The campaign video below is silent, which (inadvertently, perhaps) adds an extra layer of disorientation.

Agency creatives Christian Jörgensen and Ulf Paulsrud-Sirbäck strove to help viewers appreciate the level of frustration Alzheimer’s patients often suffer. “The spinning wheel became the perfect metaphor. It reflects the confusion of the disease and the irritation we all feel when images won’t load,” they say.

Indeed, the work represents a simple yet effective fusion of online and physical reality. Here, our shared online experience helps us emphasize with those who struggle to put vital facets of their lives back into the picture.

“We need more people to understand what Alzheimer’s does—not just to individuals, but to entire families. Through powerful, emotional communication, we hope to raise both awareness and much-needed funding for research,” explains AF secretary general Liselotte Jansson.

The initiative broke this week across Swedish social media, TV and OOH installations.