Amnesty International fights against trafficking in women with Ebay campaign
Since Tuesday night, ads have been appearing on eBay with headlines such as "U. Porsche, born 1992, top model, powerful". The ads, which ostensibly sell women, are a campaign by Amnesty International against trafficking in women. The campaign comes from Walker's kitchen.
Since Tuesday night, advertisements have been appearing on eBay with headlines such as "U. Porsche, 1992, top model, powerful". However, they are not trying to sell cars, but have a much more drastic aim: the ads are intended to draw attention to the fact that massive trafficking in women is taking place worldwide. The ads, which ostensibly sell women, end with statements such as "Traffickers in women often make higher profits than car brokers: around 35 billion US dollars are generated worldwide every year through human trafficking." The Ebay ads call on people to sign a petition from Amnesty International to put a stop to trafficking in women. The human rights organization is also the sender of the unusual campaign. Over the course of the night, more than 200 Ebay members posted the ads. An Amnesty International advertisement is to be found in every possible category on the online auction site, whether it be cars, electrical appliances or works of art.
The ads were written by the Walker advertising agency. The creative team wrote 200 individual ad texts. The reason: it should not be possible for Ebay to remove all advertisements at the touch of a button. The guerrilla campaign could trigger a snowball effect: "As many people as possible should place such ads and thus draw attention to the fight against trafficking in women," explains Pius Walker. The campaign was devised by the agency's two new creative employees Nik Hodel and Martin Arnold: "It was their first joint idea with us - not a bad start," says Walker.
A lot of attention with little budget The Ebay campaign builds on the spot against trafficking in women, which was realized as part of the "Euro 08 against trafficking in women" campaign. Amnesty International is one of the sponsors of this campaign. The aim is to provide better protection for victims of trafficking in women and not to push them into illegality. Walker explains why the unusual guerrilla campaign on eBay was chosen: "We need to attract as much attention as possible with a limited budget. This requires unconventional actions, because we don't just want to reach existing Amnesty International sympathizers, but to win over the broad masses for our cause."
Maintaining the credibility of the organization remains the top priority, which is why the preparation and fact-finding took time. However, the online auction house is not expected to take legal action: "This is a limited campaign that serves a good cause," says Walker.
The ads were written by the Walker advertising agency. The creative team wrote 200 individual ad texts. The reason: it should not be possible for Ebay to remove all advertisements at the touch of a button. The guerrilla campaign could trigger a snowball effect: "As many people as possible should place such ads and thus draw attention to the fight against trafficking in women," explains Pius Walker. The campaign was devised by the agency's two new creative employees Nik Hodel and Martin Arnold: "It was their first joint idea with us - not a bad start," says Walker.
A lot of attention with little budget The Ebay campaign builds on the spot against trafficking in women, which was realized as part of the "Euro 08 against trafficking in women" campaign. Amnesty International is one of the sponsors of this campaign. The aim is to provide better protection for victims of trafficking in women and not to push them into illegality. Walker explains why the unusual guerrilla campaign on eBay was chosen: "We need to attract as much attention as possible with a limited budget. This requires unconventional actions, because we don't just want to reach existing Amnesty International sympathizers, but to win over the broad masses for our cause."
Maintaining the credibility of the organization remains the top priority, which is why the preparation and fact-finding took time. However, the online auction house is not expected to take legal action: "This is a limited campaign that serves a good cause," says Walker.
