
Talking Bones
Dignity Institute
Issue 40 | September 2016
Agency
Grey Paris
Creative Team
Executive Creative Director: Thierry Astier Art Director: Romain Arrigoni Copywriter: Nicolas Richard
Production Team
Director: François Bricage Vinyl Maker: LATHECUTS.com Photography: Studio Lacen Sound Production: POSSIBLE
Other Credits
Head of communication: Charlotte Buisson
Date
2016
Background
More than 125,000 victims of political violence and torture live in France.
Yet, the Government had not implemented a health and social security policy to help or assist these people.
The Dignity Institute, an international association located in Denmark with 30 years’ experience across 20 countries, wanted to raise awareness of what these victims had suffered and to raise funds.
Idea
The creative leap was to show key influencers torture as they had never seen it before.
Torture victims recorded their stories and these were then embedded within their own medical x-rays.
When the x-ray was placed on a turntable, it could be played like a vinyl record. As well as hearing about what the victims had had to endure, the influencers could see the injuries suffered by people like Arta, Adnan and Fidele.
The journalists and opinion formers were shockingly reminded that torture and political violence is not a distant issue but a reality today at home in France.
They were encouraged to start a debate about the issues.
Results
250 articles were written in response to the mailings generating 9,5m media impressions including 200,000 mentions on Twitter and Instagram. Traffic to the website increased 170% and one ex-minister decided to actively lobby the government.
Our Thoughts
I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a dozen times – mail is the original interactive medium. This got people to look at an x-ray, place it on a turntable, place a needle on it and then listen – to the harrowing testimonial of Arla.
“I am 42 years-old and I’m from Kosovo. In 1999 I was arrested by UCK militias and imprisoned for three weeks. They sat me on a chair. My hands were tied behind my back with metal handcuffs. They tied my legs to the chair. I told them I was not a traitor but they hit my bones with a metal bar again and again.”
It cost money to make. But then it also reached millions of people.
And cost less in the end than a print or a TV campaign would have done.
Precise targeting plus an engaging creative idea equals great results every time.