The New Life Vest

Manny and Patricia Oliver founded Change the Ref after their son Joaquin was killed at Parkland. Since then, mass shootings in America have topped 632, and gun deaths have topped 44,000. Americans knew what was happening. They'd just gotten used to it.

Americans had quietly adapted to gun violence instead of confronting it, by changing school designs, running active shooter drills, installing metal detectors, and avoiding public spaces altogether. All of it had become normal, and that normal was the real problem.

A bulletproof vest was created and sold like an ordinary fashion accessory, called The New Life Vest. It made people realize the extreme, insane measures we had taken to survive shootings instead of confronting the problem through legislation. We offered it to everyday people near grocery stores, theaters, and schools—common settings where shootings happen. The website looked like a real product launch until it flipped into an ad for gun violence prevention. The whole thing launched during back-to-school season on a $5,000 video budget.