The Brief

Around the world, one child in every seven is a child labourer. That's over 250 million kids robbed of their childhood, from as young as 5 years old. One way to stop the cycle is to provide them with an education. Metro for Children, a charity initiative, wanted to raise funds for that, while also increasing awareness of the issue. The strategy was to reach out to the target audience, our shoppers, when they're thinking of children. That is, while buying toys. We also wanted an element of surprise, so the campaign would have maximum impact.

Creative Execution

The fun feeling from playing with toys is relevant to the target audience. By adding an unexpected juxtaposition between fun and labour, the idea was able to powerfully and emotionally connected the target audience to the issue. This stays true to the Metro for Children brand – which believes in emotional engagement.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

The creative solution is based on the insight - what's used by child labourers to make a living, could just be toys to another child. With this, we created 3 different toy boxes, featuring a sewing machine, tool kit and mop set - representing the fashion, construction and domestic industries. These looked ordinary at first, but later, left shoppers with a surprise. Text on the packaging was twisted, such that they reflected the suffering of child labourers. These boxes were placed in a department store, with a 'sales promoter' to share details and encourage donations. This solution fulfilled what we set out to do – get people thinking about the issue of child labour.

Results

Throughout the one-month campaign, funds were raised for the education and rehabilitation of child labourers. Many shoppers wanted to take the boxes back to help spread the word. Beyond these, we got people to re-think what they are buying. And how they have the power to change the lives of the victims.