2018 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

To shed light on the dangers of shooting in weddings, we created the first gun service for weddings in Lebanon, offering couples the chance to customize their own gun show by choosing from an array of professional shooters and guns. We made it look like a legitimate company, with its own full-fledged identity, branding, company profile. We even registered it in the official Lebanese wedding directory. We called our company ‘Eleguns’ (elegant + guns), and we launched it both online and during the biggest wedding fairs in Lebanon, as brides and grooms-to-be searched for the next big service for their big day. Doing so, we opened up a direct conversation with them during their wedding planning period, and couples who were interested in a gun show were then faced with the potential deadly risks associated with this practice.

Creative Execution

We created a legitimate gun service company for weddings called Eleguns, making it look real through professional branding and social media presence. We then launched it at top weddings fairs as a legitimate exhibitor. As couples curiously approached us for more details, we discussed our service in detail. Interested couples wanting to see our credentials were then shown a heart-wrenching video message from a mother who lost her child to celebratory gunfire, urging them to end this destructive tradition. In parallel, we launched an e-commerce website; after couples customized their gun show, a pop-up message told them to think twice. We drove traffic to the website through radio ads and online banners. Our effort was supplemented with TV interviews, PR, social media posts, and event LED screens. We also collaborated with wedding planners to add a special message on wedding invites reminding guests that this is a gun-free affair.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

The campaign gained a huge momentum as soon as Eleguns was made public. When the video documenting the stunt was released online,users started sharing it with friends and family, with local media picking up on the story and featuring it in Primetime news. In total, we had 24.3 million potential social media impressions,and $2.3 million in free PR and media coverage. However, we didn’t just create awareness on the dangers of celebratory gunfire. We also made people rethink their behavior and drove many to change it altogether. In total 7,000 couples vowed not to shoot in their wedding, while 85% of visitors changed their mind after initially expressing support for the tradition and then being confronted with the risks. And top religious leaders are now considering making the signing of the pledge part of marriage prerequisites. Not to mention,Eleguns is soon launching in neighboring countries where celebratory gunfire is widespread.

Despite their frequency, previous awareness campaigns against celebratory gunfire in Lebanon found little success. To achieve better results, we focused on the celebratory occasion that goes wrong the most: weddings. But instead of talking to everyone, we targeted couples planning their big day, since they were responsible for setting the right tone for their wedding. Since Lebanese couples are notorious for going all out for their wedding, they visit the top wedding fairs to catch up on the trendiest services. By introducing Eleguns, a wedding shooting service, it stood out like a sore thumb in the middle of dresses and elaborate flower displays. Doing so, we caught their attention and started a one-on-one dialogue, urging them to not let the start of their happiness end someone else’s. The activity was then seeded to media outlets that fueled the conversation, and virally spread our message across various platforms and channels.