If London Were Syria

If London Were Syria
Directed byMartin Stirling
Written byJoe Wade, Richard Beer, Martin Stirling
StarringLily-Rose Aslandogdu
Distributed bySave The Children
Release date
  • 5 March 2014 (2014-03-05)
Running time
93 seconds
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

If London Were Syria, titled on YouTube Most Shocking Second a Day Video,[1][2][3] is a 93-second charity commercial, created by Don't Panic London for Save The Children UK, marking the third anniversary of the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War.[4] It features a young British girl experiencing the effects of a hypothetical civil war on the streets of London. Everything depicted in the video was based on the factual accounts of children in Syria.[5] The video's purpose is to depict the lives of children growing up surrounded by war, in order to bring attention to young people caught up in the Syrian Civil War.[6][7]

The video was shot over two days, and combines the second-a-day and photo-a-day video formats, featuring a young girl's life as it progresses from normal to complete chaos in a year.[5]

  1. ^ SaveTheChildren (5 March 2014). "Most Shocking Second a Day Video". YouTube. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  2. ^ Mortimer, Natalie (5 March 2014). "Save The Children launch hard-hitting "If London was Syria" campaign". The Drum. Carnyx Group. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  3. ^ "If London Were Syria: Harrowing Save The Children Video Shows Impact Of War On A Single Child". 7 March 2014. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  4. ^ "Most Shocking Second-a-Day Video". Don't Panic London. 2 May 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  5. ^ a b McQuater, Kate (7 April 2014). "Anatomy of an Ad: Behind the scenes of Save the Children's 'second a day' Syria ad". The Drum. Carnyx Group. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  6. ^ Radnedge, Aidan (5 March 2014). "Haunting video shows Syrian civil war chaos coming to London". Metro. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  7. ^ "VIDEO: Shocking second a day clip shows how British child's life could be hit by war". Express. 5 March 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2015.