2019 Winners & Shortlists

Why is this work relevant for Entertainment?

To communicate the horror and shame an acid attack victim faces, we strategically chose the medium that would most aptly convey our message: one in which the victim didn't have to show their face. We then took the same message online in a simple video.

Background.

Thousands of women and children are the victims of acid attacks in Pakistan. The aim of perpetrators is to disfigure rather than murder their victims, the reasoning behind this being the belief that a woman's face is her most valuable asset. Our brief was to raise awareness of the trauma and social stigma that a victim faces in order to build more empathy. A secondary goal was to make people aware of the Depilex brand.

Describe the creative idea.

The casting process for this radio commercial and film is the concept in itself: we chose to cast an actual acid attack victim who had lost her job due to not being able to show her face. Kanwal had been hired as an air hostess when her husband threw acid on her face to deter her from taking the job. Following devastating injuries to her face, Kanwal was at one point told that she now had the face for radio. So we let her beautiful voice tell the horrific story, and communicate the shame and pain that acid attack victims live with everyday.

Describe the strategy

In order to raise general awareness of the horror of acid attacks, our target audience was the adult public. We also targeted white collar workers to attract donations.

Describe the execution

We open on a short statement of what the viewer will be seeing is a true story, while in the background we notice a woman getting ready in a recording studio. Then the screen goes black. And thereafter only the woman's voice is heard, and we don't see anything. The woman starts narrating how people regarded her as beautiful through her life, and compared her face to various beautiful metaphors. Until one day, when her husband throws acid on her face, which melts it to a point that people then cruelly started telling her that she has "a face for radio."

Describe the outcome

In just two weeks of running these radio and online spots, the Depilex brand had received hundreds of visits to their website, along with hundreds of calls. Early indication from this campaign is that awareness rose exponentially: callers mentioned that they had no idea how bad the situation was, an increase in donations was noted during the run time of these commercials.