Gold
DomesticShelters.org and Neon
Code Red
Zero social mentions. Zero stories. Zero buzz. In a business where campaigns aim to get the word out, Code Red can keep a secret spectacularly.
This exceptional campaign aimed to help those facing domestic violence by understanding the most important rule: If the abuser knows a victim may seek help, the violence will escalate.
And while one in three women have experienced violence, rape or stalking from a domestic partner, only 40% have sought help through domestic violence resources. Abusers often monitor their significant others, as much of abuse concerns control.
The campaign is based on two years of qualitative research, including focus groups, forums and firsthand conversations. That led to careful crafting of appropriate messaging and resources and the decision to focus guerilla efforts on period products, one of the few places secrecy is acceptable.
Using real and nuanced narratives, it turns period products into an advertising channel, leveraging products that are already shielded from the eyes of an abuser due to ingrained social behaviors.
Partnering with Aunt Flow, a feminine hygiene product company, it used water-soluble insert cards with the phone number for the National Domestic Violence Hotline, a vague URL and a scannable QR code.
It placed products with these self-destructing messages in colleges, commuting and transit hubs and underserved communities. It then went one step further, building a greater network of people who menstruate. Leveraging the shared experience of asking a friend or stranger for a pad when in need acts as an ad hoc way to spread the lifeline … continuing to pass along the messages in a guerilla-style approach — take one, pass one on, save a life.
Silver
Moons and 21Grams
The Cure Cup
Few people know menstrual blood contains stem cells crucial for medical research, so Moons wanted to help menstruators contribute. It designed an innovative lid that turns menstrual cups into preservation devices to end the stigma around periods. Users seal and send to researchers. So far, 8,400 have donated, and 80% plan to continue. “This is the Holy Grail of creative,” said a judge. “It’s something that might change the world.”
