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NYPD, BBDO Target Retailers To Find Missing Kids

Take a closer look at the mannequin in the window: A new campaign hopes the smiling boy will activate your inner Olivia Benson, and help track down a child missing for six years.

This is a first in what BBDO -- which created the concept -- hopes will be a regular occurrence, with police identifying missing children, artists creating mannequins that resemble them, and retailers displaying them prominently, all in an effort to generate information that might lead police to the child.

For this first effort, the New York Police Department’s Missing Persons Squad is focusing on Patrick Alford Jr. The 7-year-old disappeared in 2010 from a foster home while taking out the garbage, and police provided an image of what they believe he would look like today. A Brooklyn artist created the mannequin, and K-Way, a boutique in SoHo, agreed to put the mannequin in its window, along with a plaque explaining the project. While Patrick vanished in Brooklyn, this shop was chosen because it gets heavy foot traffic. An iPad inside the store offers more information, as does a microsite; it's using the #BringPatrickHome hashtag to generate more interest. And BBDO, which also does work for the NYPD’s CrimeStoppers program, created a video about the project.

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Services were donated, a BBDO spokesperson tells Marketing Daily, “and it’s just this one mannequin for now. But we hope other retailers will jump on board down the road.” The Web site includes a "sponsor a mannequin" page.

“Essentially, we’re turning a retail storefront into an advertising medium, but for a noble cause,” he says, “providing the retailer with another way to appeal to younger shoppers (who are heavily interested in doing business with companies that stand for a purpose).”

Patrick’s high-profile case has generated plenty of headlines over the years, including national coverage on America’s Most Wanted. And in January of last year, police again fanned out over Brooklyn and Staten Island, in hopes of finding clues. 

“Increasing public awareness is the key to generating leads,” says Lt. Christopher Zimmerman, Commanding Officer of the Missing Persons Squad, in a press release. “The more people who are aware, the better our chance to be successful. This is a brilliant idea for helping to make sure that someone missing is not forgotten. In a city like New York, everyone is so busy, they may not even notice the people around them. By putting a face on a store mannequin, it’s one more way we can make sure someone missing is not invisible.”

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