A high-profile launch of a new audiobook narrated by Stephen Fry – ‘The Missing Lines’, which frustrated listeners with its abrupt ending – is today revealed to be part of an awareness campaign for the UK charity Missing People. The campaign, built around the launch of the new audiobook across leading podcast platforms from Monday January 8, has caused consternation in just three days since its launch. Having downloaded the audiobook, listeners found the story ends abruptly after three minutes – when the main character, Marcus, goes missing after being coerced into working with a county lines drugs gang. The next eight chapters are filled with nothing but an eerie silence. The listener is deprived of a resolution to the story, reflecting the real-life experience of the thousands of people whose loved ones go missing every year. In a final chapter released today, Stephen Fry explains that the podcast is not broken, but is in fact a partnership with the Missing People charity designed to reflect the feeling that many parents have when their loved one is missing. It’s a story with no ending, one that leaves the listener in limbo indefinitely.
Philosophy
The campaign, built around the launch of the new audiobook across leading podcast platforms from Monday January 8, has caused consternation in just three days since its launch. Having downloaded the audiobook, listeners found the story ends abruptly after three minutes – when the main character, Marcus, goes missing after being coerced into working with a county lines drugs gang. The next eight chapters are filled with nothing but an eerie silence. The listener is deprived of a resolution to the story, reflecting the real-life experience of the thousands of people whose loved ones go missing every year. In a final chapter released today, Stephen Fry explains that the podcast is not broken, but is in fact a partnership with the Missing People charity designed to reflect the feeling that many parents have when their loved one is missing. It’s a story with no ending, one that leaves the listener in limbo indefinitely. For ‘The Missing Lines’ campaign, created pro bono by House 337, the agency came up with the idea for a story about a missing child, then wrote the opening pages and invented a fictional author, who was given the name M.S. Singh. House 337 approached Fry to narrate the opening pages for the audiobook which is being distributed via Apple and Spotify’s podcast platforms. The agency has also been promoting it on audio network Acast, via other podcasts and hosts, and through influencers across all social platforms. House 337 also designed a cover for the book which has been turned into a poster to promote the podcast's launch.The artwork was displayed on over 60 DOOH sites donated by Ocean Outdoor, and across 250 sites donated by JC Decaux across the UK.
Problem
Over 170,000 people run away and go missing each year in the UK.