A creative team from Canberra has taken the much-maligned eshay and turned him into an Australian hero in a bid to increase the number of young men registering as organ donors.
Eshays generally get a bad rap. Bum bag-wearing, Adidas tracksuit-donning delinquents out to roll the next victim is the general stereotype. Know what I mean, bruh? Esh-aaaaaay.
But to attract the attention of their target market - young men - Canberra director George Tsotsos and screenwriter Shane Walsh-Smith created a short film that brought to life Australia's Greatest Eshay.
"The guys we're trying to reach aren't interested in heartwarming public awareness campaigns, so it was refreshing to work on a film of such importance that allowed us the freedom to be original," Mr Walsh-Smith said.
The film aims to increase the number of young men registering as organ donors. That's because only 6 per cent of men aged 16 to 25 are registered organ donors, compared to 14 per cent of women in the same age group.
The film shows a typical annoying eshay on the streets of Canberra who becomes a hero because he was a registered organ donor.
"It's not often we get to push the envelope but when we do we go for it," Tsotsos said.
"Greatest Eshay pulled together a talented cast and crew all based in Canberra. Even the music came from a local Canberran artist, Citizen Kay."
Australia's Greatest Eshay is the work of Wattle St, an advertising agency based in Canberra that specialises in "making the complicated simple".
Wattle St principal Christine Foot was proud of the local production.
"Canberra is home to awesome talent like George and Shane who can take on challenging public awareness initiatives and realise them into engaging, creative film with real impact," she said.
The release of Australia's Greatest Eshay, now on YouTube, coincides with DonateLife Week, continuing until Sunday, and the push to encourage more Australians to sign up and support organ and tissue donation.
See more at donatelife.gov.au/eshay.
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