Brief Explanation

The key objective was to help parents, teachers and citizens of the power of words. Particularly abusive words. We needed to give parents pause, to make them sit up and take notice about the style of parenting and the words they use with their children. The significant challenge was with such a small budget, how to create something that people noticed and that they felt deeply. The key challenges was to show this in a way that would engage, surprise and make a lasting impression.

The Brief

The Center for Psychological Research, Shenyang, China, is a government body that is concerned about the rise of juvenile crime in the northern region. Their research shows a strong link between juvenile crime and childhood verbal abuse. They wanted parents and teachers of Shenyang to understand that this kind of abuse can cause significant psychiatric problems, sometimes even leading to violent crime.

How the final design was conceived

We took the words of abuse and realized that with their many parts, they could possibly turned into the very weapons they used to commit their crimes. So craftsmen and artists transformed the abusive words first into nickel-plated steel. Then we created 3D equivalents and gave them a little weathering, for online use. We then decided to place them in an urban background, perhaps similar to a place where they were often used. And finally added a victim, at varying ages to bring the human element and the cold steel of the words and weapons together.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

326 calls were made to the helpline in the first two weeks, along with creating 3,112,315 impressions on the Center's Weibo topic page. Over 30 websites (including government official sites) and 9 TV stations carried reports of this important campaign.