annielab.orgBridge of Life (Mapo Bridge)
Also: Saengmyeong-ui Dari · Mapo Bridge messages
2012 Samsung Life Insurance and Seoul city installation on Mapo Bridge, a frequent suicide site: motion-activated lights lit up friendly messages and photos along the railing as pedestrians walked, with emergency phones to a counselling line.
- Years
- 2012
- Country
- South Korea
- Topic
- Suicide prevention
- Asks people to
- Seek help
- Strategy
- Means safetyService link
- Channel
- Outdoor
- Audience
- General public
Evidence
ObservationalMixed
Recorded suicide attempts at the bridge rose from 11 (2011) and 15 (2012) to 184 (2014) as reported in press and Wikipedia; Seoul said deaths fell (15 to 8) and that attempts rose because counting moved to CCTV and hotline detection; the sponsor claimed large reductions. Fact-checkers found viral 'sixfold increase' claims overstated. No peer-reviewed evaluation found. Widely cited as a possible iatrogenic case: international publicity (awards, viral videos) made the bridge more associated with suicide. Safe messaging: conflicts with guidance against publicising a specific location; hotline phones are a positive feature.
Sponsor (who paid)
- Samsung Life Insurance Industry, funder and creator
- Seoul Metropolitan Government Foreign government, partner
Credits (who made it)
- Cheil Worldwide Seoul Creative, 2012-2013 source
Related campaigns
- Project 84 2018
Sources
- Mapo Bridge (Wikipedia) reference
- Samsung Life and city authorities join hands to prevent suicides in Seoul (Campaign Asia) news · 2012
- Analysis: narratives on botched suicide prevention messages at Seoul's Mapo Bridge (Annie Lab) news · 2025
- Bridge of Life (Cannes Lions) archive
- Cheil Worldwide's 'Bridge of Life' is a Grand Clio winner (Shots) news · 2013
- Bridge of Life (Ads of the World) archive
Research notes
End year (when messages were removed) not verified. Agency verified 2026-10-22: Cheil Worldwide Seoul (Shots and Ads of the World pages fetched). Shots gives the launch date as 26 September 2012 and repeats the agency's '85% reduction' claim, which the attempt counts above contradict.
Record cases/bridge-of-life.json, updated 2026-10-22· Link to this campaign