Consciously Designed: Amnesty Sets New Standards for Social Advertising
Amnesty International originally known for its fierce human rights work has produced an equally aggressive media strategy that is changing the look of social justice advertising. It use to be that all the innovative and fresh advertisements that would turn heads represented corporations. Now, Amnesty International is steadily reclaiming media advertising and making unpleasant truths about oppression relevant to our concerns.
In 2006, Amnesty launched a visceral bus stop campaign in Switzerland called, “It’s not happening here, but it’s happening now.” Life-sized human figures are strategically placed on Plexiglass and fitted perfectly with the local environment. A frantic man carrying a bloody young boy seems to emerge from the serene locale of Switzerland. At another stop an African child seems to be crouching beneath a real tree next to the bus stop picking seeds. One ad even incorporates the structure of the train stop to make it appear as if a young boy is emerging from the trenches.
The brilliance of the ad lies in the concept: site intervention or at least the illusion of site intervention. The campaign designer Walker Werbeagentur Zuerich confronts the idea of “see no evil, hear no evil” by disrupting the peaceful landscape with devastating images from Iraq, China, Guantanamo Bay, Sudan and bringing it where it hurts the most, home.
Amnesty International understands it must also have a presence in the world of visual culture in order to influence change from all levels of society. Corporations know the importance of crafting media strategies to create an identity and generate brand loyalty because when consumers act, they profit. Non-profit organizations also rely on the conscience and generosity of the general public. Non-profit organizations also want their viewers to take action, whether it be donating, volunteering or educating others, but some are dealing with the harsh realities of political prisoners, refugees, violence and political obstacles. Additionally, not every group has the budget to spruce up their public outreach, but when they do they must represent their issue accurately and clearly.
The designers face a unique challenge. They have to use visual language to educate, engage and empower the viewer. For example, how does one design a campaign that is sensitive and at the same time empowering about female genital mutilation? Amnesty project leaders Sara Ångström and Fredrik Kron from Publicis Stockholm, took that challenge and put their creativity to the test. The campaign used the symbolism of fresh roses sewn shut to play with the viewer’s heart strings without actually using harsh graphics.
The advertisements that have come to represent Amnesty’s issues are consistently bold and sometimes brilliantly simple, thereby bringing clarity to their cause. For example, their “Silenced” campaign highlights the potential power of petitions with a series of black and white portraits of Kim Jong Il of North Korea, Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran and Augusto Pinochet of Chile with their lips vertically sewed together. A closer look reveals that the “threads” are actually signatures. On the bottom it reads, “Your signature has the power.” That campaign is the work of Erik Vervroegen of TBWA ad agency in Paris, France.
On the opposite side of the planet in New Zealand, Creative Director Nick Worthington created a billboard advertisement for Amnesty that is similarly strong. Worthington used two vertical two billboards to play off of one another. The top billboard is a photo of a fresh looking young woman with her mouth open, as if she is screaming. The background is a soft cotton candy pink, mimicking an apparel advertisement. The bottom billboard shows a black and white photo of a person’s torso and legs in a muddy field. The bottom reads, “Make some noise for those who can’t be heard.” Worthington created a visual metaphor between the “haves” and “have-nots” by aligning the two figures to make one person. With visual clues, the campaign tries to remind people the importance of advocacy.
With the 2008 Beijing Olympics coming up, Amnesty focused their attention on China’s human rights issues through a series of advertisements. In September 2007, Amnesty worked with MUW Saatchi & Saatchi in Slovakia to produce a campaign called, “China is getting ready.” Creative Director, Rasto Michalik, used the theme of competitive sports such as boxing, wrestling and shooting to inject an uncomfortable reality. The image captured torture, fear and the imbalanced power structure between the victim and persecutor. Furthermore, Amnesty circulated an advertisement around the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown (April 6, 1989). The image shows a close-up of a woman’s face and a large Chinese flag painted on her cheek. A single tear runs down her cheek and splices the flag, visually leaving a blood-like trail on her face. With this advertisement, Amnesty weaves issues of nationalism and human rights all the while paying respects to victims of the Tiananmen Square crackdown.
While there are top agencies designing the advertisements for Amnesty International, there is a curious absence of notable advertisements from Amnesty USA. With Amnesty USA’s main office in New York City, there should be many opportunities for creative collaborations. It may be that American media time is too expensive. Or it may be that the Amnesty USA’s strategy is more of interactive awareness like opting for “Guantanamo cell tour” instead of a transparent bus advertisement. Or it might simply be that the Amnesty USA is not following suite with their European counterparts in building strong social advertisements.
Despite Amnesty USA’s lack of bold advertisements, Amnesty International as a whole is seen as a trusted organization with a history of creative visual campaigns. Amnesty’s tireless mission to improve human rights conditions all over the world is matched with thoughtful and creative advertising campaigns. Other advocacy groups should start to demand better visual campaigns and make their advertisements an advocacy arm in their organization. Advocacy organizations need to know that in order to make long-term changes, they not only need to provide immediate relief and fight for political reform, but they also need to use the creativity and the skills of artists and designers to keep issues alive in our dialog and visual memory.
>Written by d/visible contributor Diana Jou.
