Rio Tinto and Marcel Sydney team up on augmented reality $20 bill donation effort

Mining giant, Rio Tinto, has teamed up with Marcel Sydney on a campaign harnessing augmented reality (AR) in order to raise money for the Royal Flying Doctor service. 

Using the tagline, ‘Keep Flynn Flying’, the creative allows people using a mobile phone browser to scan a $20 bill to reveal the history of the iconic outback medical service in virtual graphics and AR. The $20 bill is significant because founder of the RFDS, Reverend John Flynn,  is featured on the current note. Underpinning the campaign is the www.keepflynnflying.com site.

Rio Tinto's support of RFDS acknowledges the not-for-profit's operations medical service operations in rural and remote areas. As part of its latest initiative, the mining company will provide $22.5 million in financial support, a figure including $10 million for two new jets. Rio Tinto will also match donations made by the public via the AR campaign up to $100,000.

“While these jets are a great asset to WA, it costs a lot of money to keep them in the sky. That’s why we’re now raising funds to ensure the RFDS can continue their vital services across the state,”  Rio Tinto iron ore CEO, Chris Salisbury, said in a statement. 

“We’re calling on Australians to help ‘Keep Flynn Flying’.”

As beneficiary of this interactive, high-tech fundraising campaign, the RFDS is hoping it captures the public’s imagination. RFDS chief executive, Rebecca Tomkinson, said it was delighted to partner with Rio Tinto to raise awareness  and “encourage public donations to keep our vital service in the air through this unique mobile experience”.

For its part, Marcel Sydney, an agency within the Publicis Group, said it was keen to bring the legacy of the RFDS to life with the AR $20 bill. The message of the service and its legacy has been in people's hands but they "just don’t know it yet", Marcel associate creative directors, Facundo Martinelli and Daniel Galeano, said. 

"And with a new $20 note soon coming into circulation, we wanted to say goodbye by making the best use of it,” the pair added.

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