Socially-led creative agency We Are Social has partnered with visual effects company Alt.VFX to offer pro-bono support to The Kids’ Cancer Project, independent Australian charity that in 2015 launched Pirate Day, a day of dressing up to raise funds for childhood brain cancer research.

The Kids’ Cancer Project uses money raised from Pirate Day to fund scientific studies that look into better treatments and ultimately a cure for brain cancer, which is the biggest killer by disease amongst children.

The socially-led Pirate Day campaign, aimed at driving awareness and inviting Australians to donate, offers an opportunity for people to virtually dress up as a pirate and show their support online using #PirateDay2021.

The “ARRRR filter”, a Spark AR Filter for Instagram and Facebook, lets users dress up as a pirate. After donating on PirateDay.com.au, users can also unlock the special parrot, Rosie, by entering the code in their donation receipt. The filter, developed by Alt.VFX’s visual effects studio T&DA, can be accessed via the @TheKidsCancerProject Instagram page. 

We Are Social has also enlisted TV stars and social media influencers like Olivia Vivian, Ben Polson and Mel Schilling to join the initiative and nominate their friends to do the same, helping spread awareness of the charity day among their followers and drive further use of the filter and donations.

“Childhood brain cancer is a horrible disease, and one that has affected my family directly”, says Ewan Harvey, copywriter at We Are Social. “We are incredibly proud to put our creativity towards a worthy cause and, with our partners at Alt.VFX, help The Kids’ Cancer Project raise much-needed funds for research.”