2014 Winners & Shortlists

Results and Effectiveness

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.

Creative Execution

The media team researched the most popular Lebanese radio stations, then bought media space in regular ad breaks at particular times. They then studied the radio media landscape and collated the most authentic examples of ads aimed at our target markets. This had to be done, so that each of our ads could be crafted using themes workers could relate to, and the production style, music and vocal performances for each type of ad would create an authentic representation of similar ads in the region so we could disguise our hidden message perfectly.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

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. 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.