2014 Winners & Shortlists

The Brief

In Lebanon, there are 200,000 foreign domestic workers, mostly from countries like the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Kenya and Nepal. They arrive hoping to support their families back home but in reality, thousands are physically and sexually abused. Often they are locked up and prevented from leaving their employers' homes for months, making it impossible for charities to reach out to them without attracting unwanted attention from their abusive employers. We had to find a unique way to reach, and if possible, help rescue those domestic workers without alerting their employers.

Creative Execution

These radio ads managed to speak directly to workers that were previously unreachable by Sawa Mninjah. The ads had to be very carefully researched and the sound design and voice performances were all about balance. If the production was too elaborate it would stand out and raise suspicion. Too simplistic and the ad would be ignored by everyone.The hidden message needed to be perfectly disguised. We researched the themes workers would relate to and the production style, music and vocal performances for each type of ad to create an authentic representation of similar ads in the region.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

We created radio ads in languages only the domestic workers could understand and played them on popular Lebanese stations. Disguised as typical ads, they broke into employers' homes, delivering our secret message of hope by piquing the interests of the foreign domestic workers. The ads were crafted using themes workers could relate to, with the stories and sounds of home and recorded in their own language so that there would be no doubt the message was intended for them.

Results

So far the campaign has rescued 4 domestic workers and Sawa Mninjah along with human rights lawyers are busy with more cases from our radio ads.