Social experiment to change the way we see homeless people
Depaul France
Issue 38 | March 2016
Agency
Publicis Conseil
Creative Team
Executive Creative Directors Fabrice Delacourt Olivier Desmettre Creative Directors Fabrice Delacourt Olivier Desmettre Copywriter Olivier Dermaux Art Director Mathieu Vinciguerra AD Assistant Sacha Martiretti
Production Team
Director Côme Le Quilleuc Montage Clément Martin Production Cyril Faïa Valentin Pétrou (Collek) Art Buyer Jean-Luc Chirio (Prodigious)
Other Credits
Account Managers Caroline Darmon Lou Leproux Depaul Andrew McKnight
Date
December 2015
Background
Depaul France and Publicis Conseil had a hunch that, when out on the street, we tend to pay more attention to abandoned animals than we do to homeless people. The plan was to put the theory to the test.
Idea
For a whole day, a homeless person and a dog stayed seated in the same street, a few metres apart from each other. A hidden camera counted the number of times passers-by looked at one or the other. At the end of the day, the dog had been looked at 15 times more than the homeless man. Concrete proof which confirmed the original assumption and which underlines the need to change the way we see homeless people.
The digital version was on air from December 2nd on the websites of La Croix and Notre Temps thanks to the generosity of Bayard, who supported this campaign; and also on Depaul France's own social networks and website.
Results
6,750 video views with no paid media at all. There was an increase in Facebook followers of 240% vs. 2014. +360% more donations vs. the previous year.
Our Thoughts
I can hear the voices in the jury room already. 'Not another social experiment!' and 'It's just one more hidden camera idea'. And 'No results means it didn't work.' And yet, and yet... if you watch the film at https://youtu.be/Ykb3tRW7Lyo it is really interesting. There is an insight here. Maybe we avoid looking at homeless people on the street because it could be us we're looking at. The divide between a successful life and catastrophe is tissue-thin. Two people I have worked with have ended up dispossessed when life engulfed them. The De Paul Trust does a great job so to hell with the voices in the jury room, I hope the 360% hike in donations has made a difference and the charity keeps at it.