“Our task, was to get those in denial about their hearing loss to recognise they have a problem and take action,” say agency CHE Proximity about this interactive film for hearing aid brand Cochlear.

Does Love Last Forever?’ is a short film that is also a hearing test in disguise. The film has two different endings, depending on the viewer’s hearing ability.

It follows a couple’s relationship over four decades through to the present day, where the film poses the question “Does love last?” For those who can hear well, their relationship remains loving. But for those hard of hearing, the relationship deteriorates.

The creative team worked with audiologists and sound engineers at Cochlear to analyse audiograms from patients with varying levels of hearing loss. This data informed all aspects of production including the script, dialogue, locations, scenarios and sound design. Certain words with consonants such as T, S and F, for example, are harder to hear and so were incorporated into the script. Locations and scenarios that people who are hard of hearing have difficulty in, such as a busy restaurant, heavy rain and the TV playing, also feature.

View all the winning work from The Annual 2018 here.

Entrant/Ad Agency: CHE Proximity. CCO: Ant White. Group CD: Brian Jefferson. Creative Director: Ben Stainlay. Senior Producer: Jen Livingston. Digital Products Director: Jamie Metcalfe. Director: The Glue Society’s, Pete Baker. Production Company: Revolver / Will O’Rourke.