Human Sale

Background

Last year, 330 children and 4000 women were brought into the UK against their will for sexual exploitation and forced labour. STOP THE TRAFFIK is a global movement against this trade in human lives. Their valuable work with communities encourages people to get involved and help stop the trafficking on their doorsteps.

Idea

‘Human Sale’ used a London icon to get Londoners to take notice of the trade going on right under their noses: the trade in human beings. TV ads can be ignored, press ads forgotten. SaatchiX took the message to the one place Londoners couldn’t miss it: the streets. The agency had learned that those real-life banner ads, placards held by out-of-work youngsters on Oxford Street, were about to be banned. They created their own version of the classic ‘Golf Sale’ placard to stimulate curiosity. Flyers were handed out to be passers-by to raise awareness – and controversy.

Results

On the day, Stop The Traffik activists spoke to hundreds of Londoners who paused to find out more. In the week after the stunt, website traffic increased incrementally by 32%. The activity generated coverage in the press, online and in the blogosphere, which resulted in requests for more information and material from schools and churches – key organisations that Stop The Traffik is seeking to engage.

Our Thoughts

Over a hundred years ago, the placard and the flyer were important advertising media. One Victorian diarist records being handed 72 leaflets in the course of one walk across the city. Good to see the old ways still work! Of course, without the internet this stunt would be a rather forlorn attempt to stop a very nasty trade. Thanks to social media, though, the hundreds who stopped on Oxford Street are turning into thousands who can help online – and you can join them at www.stopthetraffik.org.