On Dec. 31, audio of a set performed by comedian Louis C.K. leaked to the press in which he attacked the student activist survivors of the Parkland shooting.

For Manuel Oliver, whose son Joaquin was murdered at Parkland along with 16 others,
this kind of “joke” couldn’t be taken lying down. Since losing his son, Manuel, with his organization Change the Ref, has been honoring Joaquin’s memory through activism with the goal of rendering real change in both our country’s culture and its gun laws. He decided his best course of action was to hit back at Louis C.K. with an art piece of his own, tapping MullenLowe to help craft the response.

Shortly after the leaked set, Oliver hit the streets of New York outside popular comedy clubs and put up posters of his own. He then took back the narrative by performing his own “set,” using the comedy format to prove the deadly serious point that his son is not to be used as anyone’s punchline.

The response was immediate, with outlets from the Washington Post, to CNN, to People magazine picking up the story. Slate said of the video “It’s as much of a metaphysical puzzle as it is a punchline: Joaquin Oliver gets to participate in a joke about his own murder to make the point that his murder isn’t good fodder for jokes. For all the talk about Louis C.K.’s gifts as a filmmaker back in his pre-scandal days, he never built anything that perfect, or that brutal.”

All told, the effort garnered 883 million earned media impressions, bringing attention to the fight against gun violence.