Hasta La Ideas

The Information Blanket in Swahili

Beattie McGuinness Bungay in New York has created a new product, the Information Blanket, that aims to offer vital health information to new mothers while also being used as a swaddling blanket.

The blanket was designed following the ad agency’s participation in a think tank for Unicef’s global initiative, The Future of Health. It is printed with the information that is needed to give newborns the best odds of survival, including a growth chart, breastfeeding and vaccination frequency, high temperature alert, doctor’s appointment reminder and a list of illness warning signs.

English version

BMB NY is launching the blanket this month in Uganda, where the infant mortality rate is amongst the highest in the world. The agency is working with the Shanti Uganda Society to help deliver the blanket to new mothers. The intention is to then roll out the Information Blanket to parents of newborns in under-developed areas all over the world.

The blanket in action

A website, theinformationblanket.org, has been set up where visitors can buy a blanket to be sent to Uganda. It is also possible to purchase blankets on the site, and with each one bought another will be sent to a Ugandan newborn.

The June issue of CR features a major retrospective on BBH and a profile piece on the agency’s founder, Sir John Hegarty. Plus, we have a beautiful photographic project from Jenny van Sommers, a discussion on how illustrators can maintai a long-term career, all the usual discussion and debate in Crit plus our Graduate Guide packed with advice for this year’s college leavers.

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