Launched thirty-five years ago, the operation for which Le Grand Concours on TF1 is being held on Friday January 12 at 9:10 p.m. has reinvented itself over the decades. Here are some of its secrets.
The find of a communicator
In 1989, Claude Griscelli, head of the pediatric immunology department at Necker, is appointed president of the Hospital Foundation. In search of an original idea to finance projects aimed at improving the daily lives of hospitalized children, he called on the TSA Consultants agency. The creative of the team, Stéphane Godlewski, is based on a childhood memory, namely the jar where everyone in their family put their small coins. He then imagines this cardboard piggy bank where the pennies that are “sleeping” in homes and wallets can be slipped before being paid into this structure.
The initiative of a TV woman
If the Yellow Pieces operation was born, it is also thanks to Anne Barrère, journalist who presented at the time Health in the news. Confronted in 1985 with the leukemia of Yann, her little boy, she was supported in her fight by Claude Griscelli. A few years later, she got involved with him and convinced TF1 to devote a program to the Yellow Pieces. The first took place in January 1990, where the famous box found itself in the hands of all the stars of the channel.
The right wagon
In order to get its message across, this cause was entitled to a Yellow Pieces Train from 1996 to 2007. A convoy which crisscrossed France during the month of January. He returned for a year in 2019.
Renowned supporters
Bernadette Chirac, from 1994 to 2019, and Brigitte Macron, who took over at the head of this organization, are the leading figures of the Yellow Pieces. But exceptional godparents have always joined their fight. Before Didier Deschamps, who has assumed this role since 2019, David Douillet, Christian Karembeu, Estelle Lefébure And Lorie Pester made this commitment.
Several alternatives to liquid
With the generalization of dematerialized payments, cash is becoming rare in the wallets of French people. To compensate, the Yellow Pieces are now collecting money by SMS (send DONATION followed by the amount offered to 92111), online, via rounding at the checkout and through dedicated pots. So no excuses.