Whipped
The Salvation Army
Issue 37 | December 2015
Agency
OwenKessel Leo Burnett, Johannesburg
Creative Team
Executive Creative Director Donovan Bryan Creative Director Stephanie Larsen Art Director Helene Burger Illustrator Riaan Nel Copywriters Jonathan Dennis Stephanie Larsen
Production Team
Agency Producer Sally Walland Director Willem Viljoen Editor James O’Sullivan Programmer Morne Gouws
Date
September 2015
Background
Every year, the Salvation Army tried to create awareness about human trafficking. This usually consisted of handing out flyers. But in 2015, OwenKessel Leo Burnett wanted to do something a little different. Something that instead of telling people about human trafficking, would place them in the actual situation.
Idea
People knew human trafficking was a reality but they didn't really know how it happened and no one really believed it could happen to them. To show how easily anyone can become a victim, OwenKessel Leo Burnett did what human traffickers do – they set up a fake brand and offered people a job that was too good to be true.
The job was to become a brand ambassador for a new and fictitious energy drink, Whipped. The job came with a personal stylist, chauffeur and a 50,000 Rand ($3,500) monthly salary. Those chosen would be flown to the top ten party destinations around the world where all they had to do was have a good time with a bottle of Whipped in their hand.
Hordes of people signed up for the fake job. They then received an SMS that informed them that they had just become one of the 21 million people lured into human trafficking through false job promises. People were completely shocked at how easily they fell for this, showing just how easy it is for anyone to become a victim of human trafficking.
Results
- Estimated reach: 218,533
- YouTube Views: 6,059
- Facebook Views: 2,157
- Number of times the activation was shared on other sites: 28
Our Thoughts
Here's a little idea that shows how advertising has changed a lot thanks to social media. The submission says 'hordes' of people got suckered into applying for the fake job. For hordes read a relatively lowly few hundred. However, if the average number of friends anyone has on Facebook is now 338, then simply by sharing the experience 250 people are reaching around 85,000, of whom many will pass on the link – and so a relatively small stunt can have a relatively big effect. There is a caveat, though. The idea has to be shocking enough or delightful enough or funny enough for people to want to share it.