CONTEXT & PROBLEMATIC In Quebec, over 600 people have drowned in the past 10 years. Despite years of awareness efforts, people bring their lifejackets on board but still don’t wear them. Traditional “safety first” messages are no longer registering. To break through during National Drowning Prevention Week, the Lifesaving Society set out to shift behaviour and reignite conversation around boating safety, continuing its work to reduce drownings and save lives. INSIGHT & STRATEGY Boaters often believe that tragedy can’t happen to them. That misplaced confidence needed to be confronted in an unforeseen way. Inspired by cultural “ghost objects” such as ghost bikes, the initiative turned the lifejackets of drowning victims into public symbols of both remembrance and prevention. Real life-saving objects and stories were used to create a more human and memorable form of awareness. THE IDEA Ghost Jackets were created from the lifejackets of victims, painted white and installed at the exact locations where lives were lost. These interventions appeared on shorelines, docks and riverbanks where no advertising normally exists. Each lifejacket acted as an unsettling placement in the natural landscape, confronting passersby with a simple reminder: wearing a lifejacket saves lives. Central to the initiative was Alexandre’s story. His mother narrated a 60-second film, grounding the work in lived experience and authenticity. EXECUTION Ghost Jackets were installed at real drowning sites across Quebec. These were not standard advertising surfaces but everyday public spaces with no media inventory. Their presence created a new OOH network defined by the geography of past tragedies. The idea also moved into outdoor retailers. Ghost Jackets appeared in stores such as Canadian Tire and on major retailer websites beside real lifejackets. Selecting them revealed the safety message. Supported by the film, the symbol reached people at the water’s edge, in store aisles and during online shopping moments. RESULTS & IMPACT Ghost Jackets quickly became a cultural touchpoint and a new memorial language. Families of victims requested installations of their own. • 494 media hits • 32.6M in reach • 4.3M+ video views • $509K earned media value • 9 out of 10 viewers reported being more likely to wear a PFD after seeing the campaign Ghost Jackets turned shorelines, store aisles and digital shopping paths into an OOH platform that reshaped how life-saving messages can exist in pu