Bridge of Life
Samsung Life Insurance2012
Bridge of Life is a 2012 interactive installation on public infrastructure for Samsung Life Insurance, created by Cheil Worldwide, Seoul.
Why it works
In September 2012 Seoul's city government and Samsung Life Insurance relaunched Mapo Bridge, a Han River crossing notorious for suicides, as the 'Bridge of Life'. Sensors on the guardrails switched on lights as pedestrians walked by, revealing short, kind messages so the bridge seemed to talk to whoever was on it. It is studied because an insurer turned public infrastructure into the medium, and because Cheil Worldwide's Seoul office won a Titanium Lion with it at Cannes in 2013. It is studied just as much for what came next. City figures showed reported attempts on the bridge rising from 15 in 2012 to 93 in 2013; officials argued that wider detection explained much of the jump and noted that deaths fell from six to five. The lights were switched off when the campaign ended in late 2015, an anti-jump fence went up in 2016, and in 2019 the city removed the last slogans, saying they had done little to prevent suicide.
Techniques
- Purpose and cause Ties an insurer to suicide prevention on a notorious bridge, a cause whose results are later questioned by the city itself.
- Pathos Offers short, kind messages to anyone on the bridge, aiming comfort directly at people who may be in despair.
- Guerrilla and ambient Turns the guardrails of a public bridge into the medium, with sensors lighting up messages as pedestrians walk past.
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