WINS
In times of crisis, character is revealed.
While Europe prides itself on unity and solidarity, the refugee crisis exposed a fatal contradiction: thousands of refugees were drowning at Europe's borders, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, their fate vanished from public awareness.
United4Rescue,at Skill Music together with creative partners Philipp und Keuntje & fischerAppelt, wanted to raise urgent attention and collect donations to finance the conversion of the Sea-Eye 4 into a rescue ship.
The goal: Remind Europe of its founding values — and turn public silence into action.
To make Europe listen again, we let its anthem drown.
We collaborated with Between Music, the world's only underwater band, to perform Beethoven's “Ode to Joy” — the European anthem — as an underwater requiem at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea.
Playing specially designed underwater instruments like the Rotacorda, underwater violin, and underwater percussion, the musicians transformed the anthem of unity into a haunting call for solidarity.
The underwater performance video, developed and produced together with Philipp und Keuntje, fischerAppelt, and SKILL Music, became the centerpiece of the campaign, symbolizing both the death of refugees and the erosion of European values.
We also brought in artists like Jan Delay or Adel Tawil that shared the video to their fans and helped to increase awareness.
The campaign surpassed all expectations:
The performance video generated over 15 million views, with 90% organic reach.
User-generated content and media reports created an additional 18.1 million impressions, reaching a total of 33.1 million contacts — more than double the initial target.
Within just four weeks, €444,137.18 in donations were raised, fully financing the Sea-Eye 4 rescue ship.
In its first 72 hours at sea, the ship rescued 408 people from distress.
A creative idea turned into real impact, reminding Europe — and the world — that human rights must not drown.