Title | WORDS CAN BE WEAPONS |
Brand | CENTER FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH, SHENYANG |
Product / Service | CENTER FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH, SHENYANG |
Category | A02. Use of exhibitions and installations |
Entrant | OGILVY BEIJING, CHINA |
Entrant Company | OGILVY BEIJING, CHINA |
Advertising Agency | OGILVY BEIJING, CHINA |
Production Company | T.B.FILMS ADVERTISING Beijing, CHINA |
Name | Company | Position |
---|---|---|
Graham Fink | Ogilvy Beijing | Creative Director |
Juggi Ramakrishnan | Ogilvy Beijing | Creative Director |
Xingsheng Qi | Ogilvy Beijing | Creative Director |
Wilson Chow | Ogilvy Beijing | Creative Director |
Doug Schiff | Ogilvy Beijing | Creative Director |
Yong Xie | Shenyang University | Designer |
Juggi Ramakrishnan | Ogilvy Beijing | Copywriter |
Wilson Chow | Ogilvy Beijing | Copywriter |
Guilin Bo | Ogilvy Beijing | Copywriter |
Chuyu Li | Ogilvy Beijing | Copywriter |
Xingsheng Qi | Ogilvy Beijing | Art Director |
Xiaodong Xiao | Ogilvy Beijing | Art Director |
Lei Fu | Ogilvy Beijing | Art Director |
Kaixin Li | Ogilvy Beijing | Art Director |
Yong Xie | Ogilvy Beijing | Art Director |
Fei Wang | Ogilvy Beijing | Art Director |
Morris Ku | Ogilvy Beijing | Video Editor |
Rita Yang | Ogilvy Beijing | Innovative Digital Planner/Producer |
Quetina Yang | Ogilvy Beijing | Innovative Digital Planner/Producer |
Jason Wee | Ogilvy Beijing | Website Designer |
The Center for Psychological Research, Shenyang, is a government body that is concerned about the rise of juvenile crime in the country. Their studies show a strong link between juvenile crime and childhood emotional abuse. Their psychologists believe that children subjected to verbal abuse can suffer from more serious psychiatric problems in later life than children subjected to physical violence. Our brief was to get the parents and teachers of Shenyang to understand that verbal abuse can have serious consequences for their children in later life.
The word-weapons and their accompanying videos brought to light the dangers of verbal abuse. Parents and teachers who attended the exhibition were engaged by the metal words, and actively interacted with them, transforming them into weapons. Meanwhile, the stories behind each weapon proved to be very thought provoking.
The word-weapons were shown at a two-day public exhibition, between March 26 and 27, 2014 in Shenyang. Over 600 people took part in the event directly and interacted with the weapons. The event was covered by local TV channels. The weapons were also made available on touchscreens and tablets. 326 calls were made to the campaign helpline in the first few weeks. The campaign’s Weibo topic page created over 310,000 impressions in the first month. Over 30 websites (including China government official websites) carried reports of the event. And total reach from the event exceeded 3.2 million people.
This idea connects cause and the effect, the cause being sustained verbal and emotional abuse during childhood, and the ultimate effect being juvenile crime. We connected the two with word-weapons that demonstrated vividly what verbal abuse could do. Our target parents and teachers could touch and feel these words and turn them into weapons themselves while the meaning slowly sunk in.